UNOCT: Terror threat posed by ISIL ‘remains volatile and complex’


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:

  • Nigeria: How explosion killed nine-year-old child of suspected Boko Haram member

    June 5, 2020

    A nine-year-old boy was on Monday killed and his teenage brother injured by an explosive device they had taken to an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, Borno State for their father. The kids had taken the device from Bama on the instruction of their father who is a suspected member of Boko Haram. The incident ...

  • Explosion leaves 4 dead, wounded in Kabul

    June 4, 2020

    An explosion killed a civilian and wounded three others in Kabul earlier today, the security officials said. Officials in Kabul Police Headquarters confirmed that a roadside bomb went off in Qarabagh district earlier today, killing one civilian and wounding three others. The officials further added that the Taliban militants had planted the roadside bomb but the group ...

  • Assam: IED recovered at Bogapani, defused by army’s bomb squad

    June 3, 2020

    Security forces on Wednesday recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Bogapani, which was wrapped in polythene. The IED was recovered from NH 36 and it was diffused by a bomb squad of the army from Dinjan. It is suspected that ULFA (I) had placed the IED at Bogapani to create panic among the locals. It may be ...

  • Roadside bomb kills nine civilians in southern Afghanistan

    June 3, 2020

    A roadside blast of an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province killed at least nine civilians, an official confirmed. Baheer Amadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told Anadolu Agency that the incident took place in the Arghistan district around noon local time when a passenger bus hit the improvised explosive device. He confirmed nine ...

  • Suicide bombing at Kabul mosque kills two, wounds two

    June 3, 2020

    A security guard for the U.S. Embassy and a prominent religious scholar died after a suicide bomb blast struck a mosque near the entrance of Kabul’s diplomatic zone Tuesday night. The blast at the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque, located about half a mile from the U.S. Embassy, killed its prayer leader, Ayaz Niazi, a scholar and ...

  • ISIS in Africa: The End of the “Sahel Exception”

    June 2, 2020

    This article will analyze two exceptions. The first is the long absence of confrontation between al Qaeda and Islamic state offshoots in the Sahel area. The second is an elected official conducting negotiations with an al Qaeda offshoot. Both constitute the “Sahel exception.” The first factor has ended, but the second still holds. Al Qaeda and ...

  • Bombing kills Iraqi soldiers near disputed town, as anti-terror operations continue

    June 2, 2020

    The Iraqi army on Monday announced that an improvised explosive device (IED) had killed two of its soldiers, as they were conducting anti-terror operations near the disputed town of Makhmour, some 100 kilometers southeast of Mosul. Iraq’s Security Media Cell, the country’s official military communications center, said in a statement that the IED blew up under ...

  • Landmine blast kills 7 laborers in Afghanistan

    June 2, 2020

    A landmine blast in Afghanistan’s restive northern Kunduz province killed at least seven farm laborers, an official confirmed on Tuesday. The governor’s spokesman Esmatullah Muradi told Anadolu Agency the incident took place in the Jungle Bashi area of Khan Abad district last evening where an improvised explosive device planted by the Taliban hit a convoy of ...

  • The threat of Wilayat al Sinai in Egypt

    June 1, 2020

    The Sinai Peninsula is a strategically and economically significant region of Egypt, which is bordered by the Gaza Strip, Israel, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Mediterranean Sea, and – most importantly – the Suez Canal, where 8% of global trade transits occur, including 3% of global oil supplies. The insurgency in the Sinai region, which is ...

  • Afghanistan: 2 children killed, wounded in an explosion in Nangarhar province

    June 1, 2020

    An explosion killed or wounded two children in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, the Afghan military said. The 201st Silab Corps in a statement said an improvised explosive device, planted by anti-government armed elements, went off in Shabi area of Deh Bala district in Nangarhar. The statement further added that the explosion killed a child and wounded ...

  • Explosion close to a hospital in Kabul city leaves 3 wounded

    May 31, 2020

    An explosion wounded at least three people in Kabul city earlier this evening, a day after a similar blast killed two exployees of a TV channel. Tariq Arian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said a roadside bomb went off close to Yasra Hospital in the 11th district of the city. According to Arian, the explosion ...

  •  Roadside Bomb Blast Kills 9 Near Somali Capital

    May 31, 2020

    Somali officials say nine civilians were killed and 10 others were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion outside Mogadishu on Sunday. The blast from an improvised explosive device hit a bus transporting civilians from Mogadishu to the town of Wanlaweyn, 90 kilometers west of the capital. The Somali government says al-Shabab is responsible for the attack. Read more… Source: ...

  • Journalist, Studio Technician Killed in Kabul Blast, 6 Wounded

    May 30, 2020

    IED hit a vehicle of Khurshid TV channel in PD4 of Kabul city, killing one journalist and a studio technician. 6 people were wounded in the attack. Khurshid TV’s economic reporter Zamir Amiri and technical staff member Shafiq were killed in the blast. Sediqqi said that no group or individual has threatened the TV channel recently, but stated that ...

  • Somalia cannot defeat terrorism without accountable security

    May 27, 2020

    Ahmed Muse Nur, the governor of Mudug, in Somalia’s Puntland State, was killed by the al-Shabab terrorist group on May 17, 2020. He was Somalia’s third regional governor killed by the group in less than a year. The group earlier killed the Governor of Nugal, Abdisalam Hassan Hirsi, on March 29, 2020, and the Governor ...

  • Has Covid-19 increased the risk of bioterrorism?

    May 26, 2020

    The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of global societies to biological threats, both natural and manmade, and their potential for disruption. In many parts of the world, the coronavirus has morphed into an invisible enemy, capable of hiding within our ranks and multiplying in secret, before exploding onto the surface. The crisis has prompted unfounded accusations ...