The terrorist attacks that shocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday on April 21 and which left over 250 people dead and 500 injured have demonstrated a fundamental change in the terrorist approach of the National Thowheeth Jamaath. Understanding the change in methodology of this Sri Lankan terrorist organization cannot be separated from the shift in policy adopted by the ISIS group following its defeats in Iraq and Syria and the US declaration of victory against it in early 2019. ISIS has rapidly transformed itself and adapted to its new reality, surprising many experts, especially since its new approach contradicts with the foundations on which the group was built. The organization was originally built on having a single “philosophy” and dedicated to establishing a “caliphate” and so-called united state. It was based on a network of members who adhere to violent religious ideology and who have pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. At the same time, ISIS boasted global arms that act independently of each other and in determining their targets.National Thowheeth Jamaath In January, Sri Lankan police announced the arrest of four members of a newly formed terrorist group. Months later the name of this group, National Thowheeth Jamaath, became linked to the Easter Sunday bombings and ISIS. In his first appearance in five years, Baghdadi hailed the Sri Lanka attacks and claimed responsibility for them, alleging they were in retaliation to ISIS’ defeat in Syria’s Baghouz, the group’s last pocket in the war-torn country. The National Thowheeth Jamaath, led by Moulvi Zahran Hashim, was considered a religious group that carries out social relief and offers religious studies. It revealed its extremist ideology in 2016 when it vandalized Buddhist statues and released leaflets that attacked Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka. Authorities retaliated by arresting the group’s spokesman and leader on charges of racial incitement. He was released that same year. The incident stoked tensions between Muslims and Buddhists. They died down soon later but flared up again in 2019. In 2016, Sri Lankan authorities acknowledged that 32 Muslims from the country had joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Reports revealed that some of these extremists had returned to their home country after ISIS’ defeat, raising the threat of terrorism in southeast Asia.Same tactic It appears that the April 21 attacks were straight from the ISIS playbook. The group seems to be eagerly trying to “trademark” its own form of terrorism that is based on killing the greatest number of foreigners and targeting a country’s economic infrastructure. This was demonstrated in its attacks in Paris in 2015 and 2016, Egypt’s Alexandria and Tanta in April 2017 and Indonesia’s Surabaya in May 2018. Through the Sri Lanka attacks, ISIS demonstrated its ability in using local groups and in acting as a sponsor and “monopolizer” of terrorist attacks throughout the world. In turn, various terrorist groups are also keen on using the ISIS name to attract new members. At the same time, foreign ISIS members who have quit Syria and Iraq after the group’s defeat are eager to return to their homes. Many come from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia and they have set up cells to carry out terror attacks. This was demonstrated in the 2016 attack in Dhaka that was carried out by a banned local ISIS-affiliate and followed by attacks in Marawi in the Philippines in 2017 and Surabaya in 2018. To understand the current state of affairs in ISIS, one must realize that it is a global ideological movement, not a single entity as it was when it swept across Iraq and Syria. The organization today relies more on allegiance than on some organizational structure. The return of foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq to their home countries has helped extend ISIS’ reach and transform it into a global network that may even rival al-Qaeda’s clout. It’s enough for ISIS affiliates to carry out an attack and for ISIS and Baghdadi to claim responsibility for them to give the organization this international reach. The global ISIS attacks pose a challenge to the international coalition combating terrorism. Authorities in Sri Lanka are demanded to uncover the ties between the National Thowheeth Jamaath and ISIS. The immediate challenge at hand lies in preventing the local group from manufacturing explosives and carrying out more attacks. Failure to crack down on local affiliates allows them to plot new attacks and recruit new members. Furthermore, Sri Lanka and neighboring countries must form a regional alliance to fight terror and establish joint cooperation to limit terror activities in southern and eastern Asia.Khaled Yamout is a visiting political science professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat.