By Srijan Sharma

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old United States Army veteran, crashed a Ford F-150 pickup truck into a crowd of New Orleans residents celebrating New Year’s Day. He then exited the vehicle and opened fire on the crowd, killing 15 people and injuring 30 more. This kind of lone wolf attack on US soil came after almost eight quiet years — the last similar incident was the October 31, 2017, New York City truck attack, which killed eight people and injured another 12.

The ISIS terror group took responsibility for the latter. However, in 2025, the terror dynamics have changed. This recent attack perhaps has indicated a dangerous shift in ISIS’s striking patterns.

ISIS has a classic pair of striking patterns: Suicide bombings and lone-wolf attacks. The former has been the most frequent type since January 2024, as it was used in the January 3 bombings in Kerman, Iran, and the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow, Russia. ISIS has used high-intensity bombings ever since their capabilities began dwindling.

The last reported lone wolf attack in a metropolitan city took place last year in Solingen, Germany, where a Syrian ISIS member stabbed three men during a festival. Similarly, two lone wolf attacks took place on October 16 and December 2, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium and Paris, France, respectively. The assessment shows ISIS was not able to execute a deadly lone wolf attack in the West as it........

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