The threat posed by the terrorist group ISIL remains dynamic and diverse, with Africa currently experiencing the highest level of activity worldwide.
While multiple ISIL leaders have perished in the past few years, “the group has managed to retain its operational capacity”, Vladimir Voronkov, head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) told the Security Council Wednesday. ISIL makes use of regional and domestic affiliates and continues to receive substantial global donations, operating through regional hubs and cross-border financial networks. The threat the extremist group poses is notably exacerbated in Africa’s Sahel region, where ISIL affiliates such as Islamic State West Africa Province have emerged as prolific producers of terrorist propaganda, which continues to attract foreign recruits.
Read more…
Source: UN Office of Counter-Terrorism
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Afghanistan: Magnetic IED Targets Telecommunication and IT Ministry’s SUV
January 18, 2021
A magnetic mine targeted a vehicle carrying a Telecommunications and IT Ministry official on Monday morning. The incident happened at around 8:38 Am this morning on the Shura Road in the PD6 area of Kabul city. Kabul Police said in a press statement, that “no one was hurt in the explosion”. No individual to the group has yet ...
- Iraq: IED explosion kills at least three soldiers near Sinjar
January 17, 2021
An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up on a group of Iraqi soldiers in the Yezidi-majority Sinjar district of Nineveh province, local media reported. The bombing killed at least nine people, one official claimed. The explosion took place as a team of Iraqi soldiers attempted to defuse an IED in the Sharia area, which administratively belongs ...
- Peacekeepers under attack again in Mali, as one Egyptian blue helmet dies, another seriously injured
January 16, 2021
An explosive device (IED) detonated under a truck that was part of a logistics convoy from the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, MINUSMA, at around 3pm in the vicinity of Tessalit, in the Kidal region, said the mission. “The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the bereaved family, as well as to the people and ...
- Afghanistan: Huge Explosion Rattles Central Kandahar
January 16, 2021
A suicide explosive-laden vehicle exploded in Daman district, near Kandahar airport on Saturday morning. Security officials in Kandahar province reported today that a powerful explosion shook Kandahar province. The explosion is said to have happened near a vehicle repair shop belonging to the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Jamal Barakzai, a Kandahar police spokesperson confirmed the explosion but ...
- Afghanistan: IED Explosion Targets ANP Vehicle in Kabul
January 16, 2021
Two Afghan National Police members were killed in a targeted magnetic IED attack in Kabul city. The incident happened in PD3, Behbore area of Kabul, police told reporters. Reports indicate the explosion targeted a police Land Cruiser, the vehicle belonged to Kabul police HQ. One police member was killed and another was injured in the blast. Read more… Source: Khaama ...
- Algeria: Five civilians killed in bomb blast in Tebessa region
January 15, 2021
A homemade bomb killed five people and wounded three others in eastern Algeria on Thursday, the defence ministry said, the deadliest attack targeting civilians in recent years. The roadside bomb went off as a car drove by in the region of Tebessa, the ministry said in a statement. “Five citizens died and three others were wounded when ...
- FBI warns public, law enforcement of ‘substantial’ danger of explosive devices at protests
January 15, 2021
The danger to the public and to law enforcement officers from explosive devices during protests planned in all 50 states between now and Inauguration Day “is substantial,” the FBI warned in a new awareness bulletin obtained by ABC News. The document is full of photos of devices used in the last eight months against civilian and ...
- Three Ivorian UN peacekeepers killed in Mali attack
January 14, 2021
Three UN peacekeepers from Ivory Coast were killed in central Mali on Wednesday, the UN and Ivorian government said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn Sahel state. Peacekeepers travelling the road linking the central town of Douentza to the city of Timbuktu further north hit a roadside bomb, according to a statement from the ...
- UN official: Terrorists using pandemic to stoke extremism
January 13, 2021
The U.N. counter-terrorism chief warned Tuesday that terrorists are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic and appealing to new “racially, ethnically and politically motivated violent extremist groups.” Vladimir Voronkov spoke at the U.N. Security Council’s 20th anniversary commemoration of the pivotal resolution to fight terrorism adopted after the 9/11 attacks on the United States — and six days ...
- India: Bomb-making items seized from Naxal hideout in Gondia, Maharashtra state
January 10, 2021
Gunpowder, nails, glass, wire and other explosive-making materials were seized on Sunday afternoon from a Naxal hideout in Bharnoli forest in Arjuni Morgaon tehsil of Gondia, police said. The operation was carried out by a joint team of local police, C-60 commandos and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad personnel, Additional Superintendent of Police Atul Kulkarni said. “We ...
- Afghanistan: Public Protection Force Spokesman Killed in Kabul IED Blast
January 10, 2021
Three people were killed, including Zia Wadan, a spokesman for the Public Protection Force, in an explosion in Kabul city on Sunday morning, the Interior Ministry confirmed. The blast occurred around 8:30am local time in the Kart-e-Naw area of PD8 in Kabul city. “Zia Wadan and two of his colleagues were killed and another person was wounded,” ...
- Somalia: Explosion targets Kenyan army convoy in Lower Juba region
January 10, 2021
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a convoy of Kenyan troops traveling on the Dhobley road. A statement from the Kenya Defense Forces confirmed the attack near the border between the two countries, which resulted in casualties. Four Kenyan soldiers have been killed and dozens more injured in the blast. “We are still gathering information. ...
- Somalia: Danab Forces Destroy VBIED In Lower Shabelle
January 9, 2021
The elite trained Danab forces have destroyed vehicle laden with explosives during an operation in the Lower Shabelle province. “They were planning massive operations and suicide car bombings against the people of Somalia,’’ Ahmed Abdullahi Nur, commander of the US-trained elite forces told the military radio. Ahmed said over five militants had been killed during the operation ...
- Somalia: 7 Killed In Mogadishu Roadside Bombing
January 7, 2021
At least seven people have been killed after a landmine planted on the roadside in Mogadishu on early Thursday morning went off. Among those killed in the landmine explosion are two security forces after the landmine which targeted security forces vehicle which was passing in Hodan district went off according to a resident who sorted anonymity. The commander ...
- Online extremism ‘cannot be policed’, says head of UK counter-terror police
January 7, 2021
Extremism has become so widespread online that it “cannot be policed”, the head of UK counter-terror policing has said. Campaigners have called for more action against hateful material, but concerns over potential infringements of civil liberties have sparked a parliamentary inquiry on freedom of expression. Riots at the US Capitol in Washington have reignited international debate about ...