Islamic State: despite the fall of its caliphate, the group is still influencing terrorism

At 3:15am on New Year’s Day, a 42-year-old US citizen and army veteran from Texas called Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 15 people and injuring at least 35 more.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called the attack an “act of terrorism” and said that Jabbar appeared to have been motivated by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation. The group’s infamous black flag was recovered from the back of his vehicle, and he had posted videos online proclaiming his support for IS.

We do not know whether Jabbar, who was fatally shot by police, was a genuine IS operative. But the style of his attack was consistent with those committed on behalf of the group in the past. Vehicles were used to target civilians in the 2017 attack on London’s Westminster Bridge, as well as in Berlin and the French city of Nice in 2016.