Global threat from Islamic States remains high, UN chief says

"The global threat emanating from ISIL (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) remains high and continues to diversity," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report issued here on Monday.

The continued military pressure exerted in Iraq and Syria by international coalition forces has led to serious military setbacks for ISIL, Ban said in his 21-page report to the UN Security Council.

NOT YET WEAKENED

"However, even though the territorial expansion of ISIL in both States has been halted and, in part reversed over recent months, many (UN) member states have noted that ISIL is not yet strategically and irreversibly weakened."

"A worrying factor is that no member state has reported that ISIL is short on, or lacks, arms or ammunition," he said in the report, compiled on the basis of information from all the 193 UN member states.

Over the past six months alone, "ISIL has carried out, inspired, or claimed responsibility for, terrorist attacks in Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the United States of America," he said. "The attacks have killed more than 500 individuals and injured hundreds more."

"The attacks in November 2015 and in Brussels in March 2016 demonstrate the ability of ISIL to mount complex, multi-wave attacks," said the secretary-general.

National law enforcement agencies continue to investigate those attacks, but it is already clear that they were coordinated by foreign terrorist fighters who had returned to Europe from ISIL-held territory in Syria, Ban noted.

"To some extent, these cells received directions from the ISIL leadership and were supported and facilitated by a range of individuals and groups with pre-existing records of involvement in criminality (including Al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist groups," he said.

"This demonstrates the ability of ISIL returnees to quickly link up and draw on the support of established radical networks and supporters of Al-Qaida and thereby enhance their newly acquired terrorism skills with local knowledge and support," he said.

"Continuing pressure on ISIL in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic also increases the likelihood that the terrorist group may try to move funds to affiliates outside the immediate current conflict zone," he said. "Initial reports received from member states indicate that this may already be occurring."

FOREIGN TERRORIST FIGHTERS

Meanwhile, the secretary-general said, "Significant numbers of foreign terrorist fighters continue to travel from States around the world to join ISIL in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic," he said, citing a report from a member state saying that around 38,000 individuals may have attempted to travel to the region in the past few years.

"Most foreign terrorist fighters currently with ISIL travel from North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia," Ban said. "Significant numbers have also travelled from Europe and South and Southeast Asia."

"Even though the increase in the number of new foreign terrorist fighters travelling from some regions has slowed, the travel and attempted travel of new foreign terrorist fighters from other regions has increased," he said.

"Countermeasures taken by States to detect and deter foreign terrorist fighters, and increased controls at the borders of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, may be affecting the numbers of such fighters able to join ISIL."

"Sexual violence continues to be used as a tactic of terrorism to increase the power, revenue and recruitment of ISIL, as well as to shred the social fabric of targeted communities," he said. "The trafficking of women and girls remains a critical component of the financial flows to ISIL and its affiliates."

"There is a need to ensure accountability for sexual violence as part of United Nations counter-terrorism strategies," he said. "Sexual violence must be prosecuted as vigorously as terrorist acts."

The UN Security Council has maintained ISIL, also known as Da'esh, poses a threat to international peace and security, calling upon all UN member states to fight the terrorist group, including making the joint efforts to cut off funds for it.

Therefore, the secretary-general called for strengthened international cooperation to fight ISIL and other terrorist groups in the world. Enditem