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:
- India: For the first time, four remote-control IEDs detected in Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada
May 16, 2020
The security forces have detected four remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in an edgy district of Dantewada, about 450 km from Raipur. “It’s for the first time such remote controlled IEDs were being planted by the Maoists in the conflict zone of Bastar. A combined team of 300 personnel from Dantewada district reserve guards, Special Task ...
- Terrorism along Pakistan – Iran border
May 15, 2020
Balochistan near the Pak-Iran border on May 8, killing one major of the Pakistan Army and five soldiers who were returning to their base after conducting a routine patrol in the area. The Balochistan Liberation Army, which has bases on Iranian soil, claimed responsibility for the attack. It was in the backdrop of this regrettable incident ...
- US Pushes for Afghan Reconciliation Despite Terror Strikes
May 13, 2020
The United States is pressing the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgency to come together to bring to justice the perpetrators of Tuesday’s deadly terrorist strikes on a hospital and a funeral in Afghanistan. U.S. peace envoy for the country, Zalmay Khalilzad, stressed Wednesday that cooperation between the two Afghan adversaries “is necessary” to deal with ...
- Somalia: At Least 4 Hurt As Blast Targets Police Checkpoint in Mogadishu
May 12, 2020
At least two soldiers were reported to have been hurt in a hand grenade attack targeted a security checkpoint in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Monday night. The attack took place at the Tarabunka junction, where Somali police search the vehicles as part of the security measures put in place in the capital by the Federal ...
- Afghanistan: 47 killed, wounded as suicide attack targets funeral in Nangarhar province
May 12, 2020
A suicide attack killed or wounded at least 47 people in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, the provincial government said. According to a statement released by Governor’s Office of Nangarhar, a suicide bomber targeted the funeral ceremony of Sheikh Akram, a commander of the Afghan Local Police forces, who died of a heart attack last night. The ...
- Peshawar: Blast injures two traffic wardens, one shopkeeper
May 11, 2020
At least three people including two traffic police officers on Monday have sustained severe wounds in a blast on Peshawar’s Ashraf Road. According to Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Shafqat Malik, 2kg improvised explosive device (IED) was placed along the road side. The law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the entire area and launched an operation. Read ...
- Why do some terrorist organizations use suicide bombing while others do not?
May 11, 2020
Whether by carbomb or hijacked airplane, why terrorist groups carry out suicide attacks, or attacks that necessitate the death of their perpetrators, remains puzzling to counterterrorism experts. These attacks require bombmaking expertise and strenuous effort to plan. The necessary death of a trustworthy operative puts up added moral and public relations barriers. Still, many terrorist organizations have ...
- 20 Boko Haram militants killed in gunfight with Nigerian troops: official
May 11, 2020
At least 20 Boko Haram militants were killed by Nigerian troops following a gunfight in the northeastern town of Bama, said a local government official on Monday. Many militants also fled the scene of the gunfight on Sunday in the town located in Nigeria’s northern state of Borno, according to Saeed Sambo, the head of the ...
- UN peacekeepers killed in Mali after patrol hits IED
May 10, 2020
Three UN troops were killed and four more wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb early Sunday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn West African state. Chadian peacekeepers were on a routine patrol in Aguelhok commune in the north of the country, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, said in a statement. Three ...
- Pakistan: Six FC soldiers killed in IED blast near Pakistan-Iran border
May 8, 2020
Six security forces personnel, including one officer, were martyred when a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) struck their reconnaissance vehicle near Pakistan-Iran border, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday. The military’s media wing said that the incident took place in Kech district’s Buleda area in Balochistan, which is ...
- Khost Police Chief killed in a roadside bomb explosion
May 8, 2020
A roadside bomb explosion killed the police chief of South-eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, the security officials confirmed. Tariq Arian, a spokesperson for Ministry of Interior, confirmed that a roadside bomb went off in Nader Shah Kot district of Khost late on Thursday, killing General Ahmad Babazai, the Police Chief of Khost province. Arian further added that ...
- UK: Far-right extremist, 25, inspired by the Christchurch massacre admits having explosives and bomb-making manual
May 6, 2020
A far-Right extremist inspired by the Christchurch atrocity today pleaded guilty to having explosives and instructions on how to make bombs. Filip Golon Bednarczyk, 25, of Luton, Bedfordshire, was arrested by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit on December 11 last year. Police had suspected him of being a terrorist due to his interest in firearms ...
- ISIS eyes Covid-19 weakness in Indonesia
May 6, 2020
With battered Islamic State (ISIS) urging its followers to take advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic’s disruption and launch renewed attacks around the world, Indonesian counter-terrorism police have seized a startling amount of ammunition in raids at opposite ends of Java. Terrorism experts say the 2,300 rounds of ammunition, all of it for assault rifles and other ...
- Bomb blast injures 4 power workers in Kabul, Afghanistan
May 4, 2020
Four Afghan high-voltage electricity workers were injured in a bomb attack near a power pylon in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Monday, authorities said. Terrorists detonated a bomb and damaged a power pylon in Police District 17, north of Kabul last night. Personnel of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat tried to repair the damaged tower and were hurt ...
- French Foreign Legion soldier dies from injuries after anti-jihadist operation in Mali
May 2, 2020
A French Foreign Legion soldier who was fighting in Mali died on Friday from his injuries in an IED attack, the Élysée Palace announced in a press release on Saturday. Brigadier Dymyto Martynyouk was struck by an improvised explosive device during an “operation against terrorist groups” on April 23, the French presidential office said. He died at ...