For many, the threat from Islamic State ended in the dusty Syrian town of Baghuz in 2019 when the remnants of the organisation finally succumbed to the campaign waged against them by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces.

But the attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow and Islamic State’s subsequent claim of responsibility is a reminder that the group continues to have strategic reach and has retained the ability to conduct mass casualty attacks against targets outside their countries of origin.

Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the Moscow attack in which 130 people were killed, appeared in court with facial injuries and a large bandage on his ear.Credit: AP

Islamic State wasn’t eradicated in Baghuz even if their pretend caliphate was. The organisation has, little by little, partially recovered and in its atomised form has become increasingly active. It has significant territorial control and hence freedom of action in Africa. But for the West, what goes on in Africa is generally of little interest, so Islamic State’s role there has gone largely unnoticed.

Islamic State’s west African campaign is a success story even if it remains peripheral to the group’s main focus: which is consolidating its remaining foothold in the Middle East, as well as conducting attacks against foreign powers with whom it is in conflict.

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