On Tuesday August 16, Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) targeted the Qatif police station in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia killing a police guard. This attack is a continuation of Daesh’s operations in the Gulf where they have become increasingly active in targeting security forces and the Shiite community in an attempt to disrupt the national unity and security of the country, said Ibrahim Al-Othaimin in an article that was published in the Saudi Gazette
In a column that was published in the Saudi Gazette titled “Why is Daesh Targeting the Gulf States?” on Thursday, Saudi Analyst Ibrahim Al-Othaimin indicted that there are two reasons for Daesh’s operations in the Gulf, where the group has become increasingly active in targeting security forces and the Shiite community.
“I believe that Daesh’s first goal is the legitimization of savagery. Daesh fights in Syria and Iraq, but its ultimate target is Saudi Arabia which has a highly symbolic significance for Muslims,” said Al-Othaimin, adding that his country is the only authority in the world that has the religious legitimacy to overthrow Daesh and its savage ideology.
According to Al-Othaimin, Daesh’s second goal is “the financing”, saying, “From the start, Daesh’s key strategy has always been money before fighting. Hence, when it first emerged in Iraq and Syria, it pushed hard to take control of Iraqi and Syrian oil resources.”
Citing a report that was published by Time Magazine titled “In the End, the Target for ISIS is Saudi Arabia”, Al-Othaimin affirmed that Daesh took control of 60 percent of the oilfields in Syria, in addition to a number of oilfields in Iraq, and that the profits from its export operations reached three million dollars a day.
“This terrorist organization has now been forced to follow other routes to finance its operations, laying its hands on Gulf oil, as its financial nerve has been targeted by the international coalition led by the United States and Arab countries including the Gulf states”, concluded Al-Othaimin.
