It&#x27;s court, police and military are not independent structures but the same bunch of armed militants. If controlling a territory with sword and fire is the criterion of statehood, we have a bunch of states right now on our hands, including Taliban State, Boko Haram State and 18th Street State.<p>I concur it&#x27;s advantageous they are positioning themselves as a state though. It immediately translates their military defeats into social and political ones.