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.

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Source: UN Office of Counter-Terrorism


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