We need to halt Isis quickly or religious hatred will spread further

It is not clear yet who was responsible for yesterday’s bombing in Bangkok but it would not be surprising if Islamic extremists admitted it or were identified as the culprits in the outrage which left at least 27 people dead and many more injured. At least three foreigners died.

There may be other interests involved but a litany of recent atrocities all around the world suggest it is reasonable to assume that Isis or one of its franchise terror organisations were behind the attack at the Erawan Hindu shrine.

Isis have, like many others, made terror their primary weapon and have worked especially hard to ensure that the full potential of social media is utilised to ensure that those who would oppose them know that they are ready to be as brutal and as savage as any of history’s tyrants.

Recent reports that Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi viewed women held captive in Syrian as his private property and repeatedly used them as sex slaves is an indication of the ever-deepening chasm between the civilised, relatively at least, world and the world of Islamic extremists.

That civilised world was deluded all through the 1930s when it believed, or at least hoped, that Hitler and his Nazis might be appeased and that a European war averted. We seem to be heading for equally frightening territory unless we find an unconventional answer to a simple question: How can the barbarians of Isis be stopped, neutralised or made redundant before the region is inflamed with religious or racial hatred?

Sean de Paor

Kilbredeoga

Co Chorcai