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:

  • Viable pipe bomb device found near war memorial in Northern Ireland

    November 12, 2017

    A viable pipe bomb was found close to a war memorial in Omagh, police in Northern Ireland have confirmed. The discovery of the “small but potentially dangerous device” was made before a Remembrance Day parade took place. The march was diverted and the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the County Tyrone town’s cenotaph was postponed as the area was ...

  • Afghan officials: Suicide car bomb kills policeman in south

    November 10, 2017

    Afghan officials say a suicide car bombing in the southern Helmand province has targeted a police compound, killing one policeman and wounding two. Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the attack targeted a border police compound in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, on Friday. Abdul Ghafar Safi, the Helmand chief of police, says there was ...

  • Iraqi army kills 4 suicide bombers before crossing into Iraq from Syria

    November 9, 2017

    The Iraqi army killed four suicide bombers before crossing into Iraq from Syria on Thursday, a commander was quoted saying. Maj. Gen. Nawman al-Zawbai, commander of the army’s 7th division, told Alsumaria News that a force from the division killed four militants clad in explosive belts who tried to sneak from the Syrian side into Iraq. ...

  • Soldier dies, as troops repel Boko Haram attack in Adamawa

    November 9, 2017

    The Nigerian Army, Monday, lost one of its soldiers just as three others sustained various degrees of injuries from an improvised explosive device, IED, launched by Boko Haram terrorists in Gulak, Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State. This came as troops of 28 Task Force Brigade of Operation Lafiya Dole, killed two female suicide bombers at ...

  • Own IED kills 3 militants, injures 7 in Afghanistan

    November 9, 2017

    An explosion of militants’ Improvised Explosive Device (IED) killed at least three militants and injured seven others in Alishing district of eastern Afghan province of Laghman, a statement said Thursday. “The IED went off accidently late on Wednesday when the Taliban militants were trying to place it in along a road in Dehan Karnaj area of ...

  • Teen guilty of bid to import explosives from dark web

    November 8, 2017

    A teenager has been convicted of trying to import explosives from the dark web with intent to endanger life. Gurtej Singh Randhawa, from Wolverhampton, attempted to buy a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, which would be sent to him. The 19-year old was arrested in May 2017 after the National Crime Agency (NCA) replaced the package with a dummy device ...

  • Six killed, wounded in IED blast southwest of Baghdad

    November 7, 2017

    Six people were killed and wounded on Tuesday when an explosive device went off in Baghdad on Tuesday, according to security sources. The sources told Baghdad Today that an explosive device planted near commercial stores in Haswa, Abu Gharib, exploded, killing one and wounding five others. Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of ...

  • Pakistan: IEDs, landmines still a serious threat in FATA

    November 5, 2017

    Landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are posing a serious threat to the lives of innocent tribesmen who after experiencing the worst kind of sizzling heat and chilly cold weather in adjacent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts, are returning to their homes in North and South Waziristan Agencies. Compared to North Waziristan and the rest of the Federally ...

  • White Supremacists Share Bomb-Making Materials in Online Chats

    November 2, 2017

    Right-wing extremists communicating in confidential online chats in recent months have shared scores of documents detailing the manufacture and use of bombs, grenades, mines and other incendiary devices. The documents, which range from instructions on detonating dynamite to U.S. military manuals for constructing improvised explosives and booby traps, were passed around during online conversations among members ...

  • Four Feared Dead, Six Injured in Boko Haram, Military Battle

    November 2, 2017

    About four soldiers fighting Boko Haram insurgency in North-east were feared dead as military troops under Operation Lafiya Dole engaged Boko Haram terrorists in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. Though the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, confirmed the incident, he did not link the dead that occurred to the battle ...

  • ‘Would-be bomber bought wrong nail varnish remover’ from Derby Asda, court hears

    November 2, 2017

    A would-be bomber bought the wrong type of nail varnish remover to make an explosive, a court has heard. Munir Mohammed enlisted chemist Rowaida El-Hassan, who he met on a dating website, to help him make a bomb or a deadly ricin poison in December last year, it is alleged. But he picked up an acetone-free bottle ...

  • Somalia: Al-Shabaab Militants Killed in Own Explosion

    November 1, 2017

    At least 8 AlShabaab militants on Monday night died in an IED explosion in north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Radio Dalsan reports. The eight were part of a Mogadishu based AlShabaab cell that were planning to execute an attack in the capital, a NISA official told Radio Dalsan. Read more… Source: AllAfrica  

  • Kabul Green Zone: Blast kills many, officials say

    October 31, 2017

    At least three people have been killed and 13 injured in a powerful explosion in central Kabul, Afghan officials say. Ambulances have been ferrying victims of the blast in the capital’s diplomatic zone to hospital. The number of dead and injured is expected to rise. A Reuters TV crew counted eight people who appeared dead. It is not ...

  • Somalia Mogadishu: Explosions rock capital

    October 28, 2017

    Two explosions have rocked the Somali capital Mogadishu, just two weeks after huge bomb killed more than 350 people. The first blast was caused by a car bomb being driven into a hotel. Militants then stormed the building. The second explosion took place near the former parliament house nearby. The number of casualties is unclear. The Islamist militant ...

  • Nationalist MP survives scooter bombing in Ukraine

    October 26, 2017

    A combative nationalist MP has been wounded and two others killed in an explosion in Kiev, the sixth assassination attempt by a vehicle bomb in Ukraine in 15 months. Ihor Mosiychuk, a member of the opposition Radical Party who has previously started fistfights in parliament and been imprisoned on terrorism and corruption allegations, was injured when ...