MARK ALMOND: Is Islamic State now planning a new wave of attacks in the US and the West?

Nearly a quarter century after the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, America is once again haunted by the risk posed by global terrorist groups.

Nothing as grotesquely spectacular as 9/11 has happened again, but yesterday’s massacre in New Orleans is an eerie reminder that ghostly Islamist terrorists still lurk in Western societies, even across the Atlantic .

The chaos caused by the attacker – US citizen Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, whose truck carried an Islamic State flag – came out of the blue, at least from the perspective of local authorities and police.

From the first news of the attack, Islamic State’s websites reverberated with morbid celebrations of the attack. This alone suggests that this was not the work of a lone wolf claiming to be an agent of ISIS, but was in fact organized from abroad by its underground headquarters in the Middle East.

The fact that investigators found weapons and hidden pipe bombs wired for remote detonation — as well as a corresponding remote control device in the truck — was enough for the FBI to state that it does not believe the driver acted alone.

Have American authorities and intelligence services turned their gaze on domestic terror? Has the American public become too complacent about the risk at home?

There is no doubt that after IS lost control of Syrian cities like Raqqa and Mosul in Iraq in 2017, many assumed the threat had disappeared.

In recent years, the US and its allies have focused on expanding the war on terror into the Middle East, recognizing that ISIS still has a sinister shadowy presence there.

Shamsud Din Jabbar (pictured), 42, has been identified as the driver who slaughtered pedestrians

The driver who rammed into pedestrians celebrating the New Year in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, is dead after a shootout with police

The suspect rammed into the large group at high speed, then got out and started shooting with a weapon, witnesses said

On New Year’s Eve, French fighter-bombers joined the US campaign against IS hideouts in Syria.

Since the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Western eyes have been focused on what could happen to the approximately forty thousand IS activists and their families in that country.

Just minutes before the New Orleans disaster, many Western terrorism experts expressed relief at IS’s inability to disrupt New Year’s celebrations in Syria or Iraq.

But unfortunately the relief was premature. Because the IS leadership, despite all its previous ambitions to control territory in the Middle East, now sees so-called “spectacular” terrorist attacks abroad as the best way to make headlines. Atrocities, especially in the US, act as recruitment sergeants for IS as it tries to indoctrinate sympathizers to engage in terror activities and mass murder.

The fact that yesterday’s perpetrator was well rested suggests that he had training and support. He was wearing Kevlar body armor and carrying a serious rifle.

As for explosives, it’s worth remembering that the Saudi man who crashed through the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany two weeks ago had explosives in his BMW – although he also failed to detonate them.

Still, a vehicle running amok in a crowded place, driven by a gunman, is a powerful terrorist weapon.

In both Magdeburg and New Orleans, the terrorist discovered a flaw in security measures, allowing him to drive through a hole and plow into innocent pedestrians.

Following the horrific tragedy, an image of what appears to be a flagpole on the back of the unknown driver’s truck circulated online.

Videos circulating on social media that appear to have been recorded at the scene show multiple victims on the ground as shots ring out in the background

With upcoming major events such as Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and the Super Bowl – which will be played in New Orleans on February 9 – the FBI and other US security agencies will have to rush to get security measures up to date . . A new event with mass casualties cannot be ruled out.

Eight years ago, Donald Trump began his first presidential term by banning Muslims – all depicted as potential terrorists – from entering the US. That played into the hands of the terrorists in terms of propaganda.

What IS wants is for Washington to take similar general measures, in the belief that this would bring a few more young Muslims in Western countries into its deranged mindset.

Of course, the reawakening of the specter of terrorism at home will lead Americans to demand effective countermeasures. They are necessary, but effective police work is often unspectacular.

A high-profile, knee-jerk reaction can be psychologically satisfying, but it’s not always the wisest move. Donald Trump’s statesmanship is being tested early on.

Mark Almond is director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford