What tactics does ISIS use?

• A. Bombings and gun battles
• B. IEDs, suicide attacks, ambushes, and kidnappings
• C. Cyber operations
• D. Diplomatic pressure

Answer: (B)

Focus on the methods most associated with ISIS’s operational style: asymmetrical violence designed to maximize impact and control. The combination of improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks, ambushes, and kidnappings captures how ISIS tends to strike: deploying IEDs to cause high casualties and fear while staying relatively hidden, using suicide attacks to reach defended targets with guaranteed intent, ambushing patrols or convoys to disrupt security forces and supply lines, and kidnapping victims to leverage concessions, ransom, or propaganda. These tactics together reflect a pattern of violent coercion aimed at spreading fear, undermining governments, and drawing attention to their cause.

Cyber operations and diplomatic pressure are not the hallmark tactics ISIS relies on. Cyber activities appear among modern tactics for some groups, but ISIS is principally known for on-the-ground violent tactics rather than strategic cyber campaigns. Diplomatic pressure involves formal political engagement, which is not how ISIS pursues influence or power.