Decade after Paris attacks, jihadist threat has evolved

PARIS — A decade on from deadly attacks in Paris, the world’s two most notorious jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda have significantly evolved and their branches still pose a global security threat, especially from Africa, analysts say.

With strong central leadership, the groups were once able to train and then send commandos into Europe to carry out attacks such as the Nov. 13, 2015 strikes in Paris that left 130 people dead.

But today IS has lost the sanctuary it once enjoyed in Syria and Iraq.

The emblematic leaders of both groups, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for IS and Ayman al-Zawahiri for Al-Qaeda, were killed in U.S. strikes, respectively in 2019 in Syria and 2022 in Afghanistan.

Today, “the structure of the two major command centres is considerably weakened, the leaders a