ISIS terrorist operations in 2020 are likely to continue at a similar pace and with similar effectiveness despite the loss of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a 26 October US raid. The group probably will transition relatively smoothly to new leader Abdullah Qardash, who three months ago began running day-to-day ISIS operations to allow al-Baghdadi to focus on building religious fervor in the organization, according to an August statement from the ISIS press agency Amaq.
