ISIS fighters do not want to return home.

(Baonghean) - The death of student Otto Warmbier, along with Pyongyang's escalating nuclear and missile programs, has further heightened Washington's concerns, forcing it to issue a ban on its citizens traveling to North Korea to prevent the possibility of "going in easily but returning with difficulty."

Meanwhile, foreign fighters of the IS forces are clinging to Syria and Iraq, unwilling to return home even as their dream of establishing their own state is fading.

The Trump administration has just ordered a travel ban for its citizens to North Korea following the death of student Otto Warmbier. (Photo: Telegraph)

The US bans its citizens from traveling to North Korea.

North Korea, a mysterious Northeast Asian nation, is a place many adventurous Americans dream of visiting at least once. However, following the sudden and unexplained death of American student Otto Warmbier, the US has just issued a ban on its citizens traveling to North Korea.

The ban will take effect next month. Specifically, on July 21, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided to impose a "geographical travel restriction" on North Korea, amid growing US concerns about Pyongyang's moves to advance its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “Due to growing concerns about the serious risks of detention and prolonged house arrest under the North Korean executive system, the Secretary of State has issued a geographic travel restriction order prohibiting all U.S. citizens from using their passports to travel to or transit through North Korea.”

It's difficult to give an exact number of American tourists visiting North Korea, but according to Simon Cockerell of Koryo Group – one of the leading tour operators offering guided tours to North Korea – around 800-1,000 Americans visit each year and will be affected by the new ban that officially takes effect at the end of August.

Until then, Americans wishing to legally travel to North Korea had to apply for a special passport issued by the State Department on a case-by-case basis, for "humanitarian purposes within certain limits or other purposes." And to increase deterrence, any citizen who violated the regulations, even for the first time, could face a fine and 10 years in prison.

To date, most American citizens who have traveled to North Korea have returned safely. However, there have been a few isolated cases of arrest and sentencing for crimes that Washington considers not too serious. It is estimated that at least 16 American citizens have been detained by Pyongyang over the past decade.

Notably, the ban was imposed as the Trump administration sought more effective ways to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang's recent successful intercontinental ballistic missile test further heightened the urgency, prompting the U.S. to seek ways to prevent North Korea from mastering the complex process of launching nuclear warheads capable of reaching U.S. territory.

Under U.S. law, the Secretary of State has the authority to request restrictions on the use of passports for travel to countries where the U.S. is at war, where hostile forces are deploying weapons, or when there is a danger to the health and security of American citizens. While this has precedents, the latest ban has met with skepticism and criticism from many, especially travel companies directly affected.

The argument they put forward was that the ban would set back U.S. engagement with North Korea. A superpower that has frequently criticized Pyongyang for its isolationism is now inadvertently contributing to that isolation, raising questions about the role of Washington's so-called "soft power."

The supreme commander of IS is believed to still be alive.

Foreign IS fighters do not want to return home.

Meanwhile, in another global hotspot, as the illusion of a self-proclaimed "Islamic State" gradually dissipates after successive defeats, instead of returning to their homelands, foreign IS fighters are likely to remain in the "cauldron" of Iraq and Syria, holding out with the remaining remnants of the self-proclaimed state.

Nicholas Rasmussen, Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, also affirmed this in a recent speech at the annual Aspen Security Forum: "Many, if not all, foreign fighters who have made their way to conflict zones will ultimately remain, fight, and possibly die to maintain the self-proclaimed Islamic State."

Contrary to the earlier assessment that many IS fighters would eventually return home, posing a significant security threat to their own homelands, this view seems more plausible in the current context, especially since the head of the US National Counterterrorism Center himself has stated that he cannot confirm reports that the supreme commander of IS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has been killed.

Even US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stated on July 21st that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is still alive, meaning that "the snake hasn't lost its head" and ISIS forces will continue to hold out to the end.

Even if they wanted to return home, it wouldn't be easy for the extremist fighters, as the road back is fraught with obstacles, with the campaign still raging in the Middle East, and Türkiye and many other countries tightening their borders.

"Every cloud has a silver lining," this latest assessment will be welcome news for countries home to tens of thousands of Islamic extremists – those who fled en masse in 2014 with the goal of establishing a self-proclaimed Islamic state, after sweeping through Syria, capturing the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and attacking the suburbs of Baghdad.

In reality, returning extremists have been planning bloody attacks, taking the lives of many innocent civilians, forcing governments to consider new airstrikes as ISIS gradually loses ground in Syria and Iraq.

However, according to US intelligence officials, countries should not be complacent, because the more worrying issue now is not necessarily the influx of foreign fighters, but the threat from branches of IS based in Asia and Africa, meaning that the global war on terrorism will continue intensely in the coming years.

Thu Giang

(According to AP, Reuters)