Three IS related terrorist attacks kill more than 60 in one day
Injured people are treated near the area where an attack took place in Sousse, Tunisia, June 26, 2015. [Photo/IC] |
So far, the terrorist group has claimed responsibility for both the Tunisia and Kuwait attacks, and has called on followers to step up assaults during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
There was no evidence that the three attacks were deliberately coordinated. But coming so close together on a same day in three countries on three different continents, they underscored the far-reaching, fast-growing influence of the Islamic State, Western analysts said.
Other analysts said that the Ramadan month is full of religious atmosphere which may cause paranoid religious extremists to conduct risk actions. Religious extremists usually pick days carefully to add legitimacy to their attacks. June 26 was the first Friday of this year's fasting month.
Actually, the extremist group has revived since last month, though the US-led coalition of some 60 countries has been carrying out airstrikes against it in Iraq since August 2014, and has expanded the air campaign to Syria in September 2014.
Friday's attacks highlighted the spread of the Islamic State beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria, which have become a safe heaven for the terrorist group, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said.
"This threat demands better regional cooperation and more targeted air strikes against the IS," he said.