Has ISIS Reached Egypt?

The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has demonstrated its intolerance of a pluralistic society and barbarity towards those countless it perceives as an enemy long before the beheading of journalist James Foley. Its erasure of the Syria-Iraq border has also sparked alarm at its ability to threaten the international order in the region. But fears that the self-proclaimed caliphate is reaching beyond the borders of the battlefield has grown in the wake of the announcement of a new group: The Islamic State in Iraq, al-Sham, and Egypt.

Although the statement announcing the group is not yet verified, Khaled Dawoud, Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Weekly and official spokesman of social-liberal Al-Dostour Party, recently wrote on EgyptSource on the dangers associated with spillover from Islamist Egyptians fighting in Syria:

Dawoud provides a description of Islam Yaken, a prominent case in which a young, middle-class Egyptian has used social media to boast his association with ISIS. He warns that the so-called “hipster jihadist” is not the only case.

Read more in Dawoud’s article, “ISIS at Egypt’s Door” on EgyptSource.

Image: Photo: Militant Islamist fighters on a tank take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. (Reuters)