The Resistance Front: A Sign of Evolved Menace

The formation of various terror fronts and fanning the waves of separatism through different ways such as promoting and sheltering Khalistani terrorism has been a testimony to this strategy.

- DIVYANSH KALA

In a strategic move in accordance with zero tolerance towards terror organisations, the United States of America banned the notorious 'The Resistance Front' (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, the Resistance Front should not be understood only as a terrorist organisation; rather, it is a signal of how terror outfits are now manoeuvring their strategies and tactics in changing times.

The strategic discourse has shifted from conventional use of force in conventional battlegrounds. Now, with the increasing digital footprints and decentralisation of information technology, the war fronts have also decentralised. War no longer remains in borders; rather, the human mind and the societal psyche at large have become new theatres. Terrorist organisations have understood this and have started to evolve themselves accordingly.

The emergence of Fifth Generation Warfare has forced terrorist leadership to conduct war in a new format. Fifth Generation Warfare is a decentralised type of warfare where the lines between war and peace, combatants and civilians, have been blurred. It is a long-term and complex warfare. To defeat the enemy, this warfare form takes advantage of social fault lines in a society by exploiting them for the belligerent's purpose. Social engineering and propaganda are the main tools of this warfare.

The Resistance Front proves to be a classic study of the changing strategies of terror outfits to conduct war against their targets without direct involvement. Terrorist leaders are no longer the conducting agents of war; rather, they have become facilitators of war by providing logistical and strategic support. This manoeuvre has posed a serious challenge to the security apparatus.