With few exceptions, the Islamic State has not claimed attacks when a surviving recruit falls into the hands of the authorities. The Islamic State has followed this practice regardless of whether the attacker was directly dispatched or inspired remotely through online tutorials. More recently, the Islamic State never claimed a truck-ramming in Stockholm in April, even though the perpetrator was found to have been a recruiter for the group. Among the arguments for why the Islamic State would not claim responsibility, even when everything points to it, is a pragmatic consideration. He was killed, and sometime after, the Islamic State claimed the attack, calling it a reminder to Western powers that the “battle has come to their homeland.”

Source: New York Times November 02, 2017 00:41 UTC