weaken

World leaders reacted with gusto to the news of the death of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, following a raid on his hideout in the Syrian village of Barisha. He had detonated an explosive vest after running into a tunnel in an escape bid as US forces’ trained dogs went after him. The euphoria his ignoble exit was apparently informed by the thinking that the world would now have some respite from the brutal activities of a terrorist group that has spread its fangs across the world.

In this report, a security expert and …