Vladimir Voronkov, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Counterterrorism, told the Security Council on Thursday that the Islamic State and its affiliates are expanding their influence in West Africa and the Sahel. Voronkov said ISIS remains intent on carrying out terrorist attacks around the world.
Voronkov Warned If current trends continue, ISIS may soon have “effective control” over “a large area of territory stretching from Mali to northern Nigeria.” ISIS and its allies have also expanded into parts of Mozambique, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
United Nations Counter-Terrorism Chief said The Islamic State has become increasingly decentralized and flexible, enabling it to exploit the “complex” political situation in Africa’s Sahel region, where legitimate governments have been overthrown by military juntas and ethnic warfare creates constant instability.
“They are exploiting political instability to expand their reach, operations and territorial control in the Sahel region, which is of growing concern along the West African coast,” Natalia Gelman, head of the UN counter-terrorism committee, told the Security Council.
“The African continent currently accounts for almost half of all terrorist acts worldwide, with the Central Sahel region accounting for around 25 percent of such attacks,” she reported.
Gell-Mann said ISIS is increasingly using advanced technology such as drones, cryptocurrency and 3D printing. He said one of the committee’s top priorities is to work with governments and Interpol to defend ISIS online.
Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock told the UN Security Council that his organisation was investigating “links between terrorist groups and criminal organisations”, including cocaine smuggling operations through the ISIS-infested Sahel region.
Stock said there were numerous examples of the “interests and activities” of terrorist and criminal organisations “converging to the benefit of both”.
Voronkov also warned that the Islamic State group, known as ISIS-K, has “improved its financial and logistical capabilities” in Afghanistan over the past six months and is recruiting more fighters.
While ISIS-K remains a real threat to Afghanistan’s equally hated Taliban rulers, Voronkov said the Taliban have managed to reduce “the ability of ISIS affiliates to carry out attacks inside the country.” ISIS is another name for the Islamic State.
“We must unite to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a breeding ground for terrorism,” Voronkov said. said.
The UN representatives of Mozambique, Algeria and Sierra Leone agreed that their region has become, in the words of the Sierra Leone envoy, “a new epicenter of terrorism.” Algeria called on the UN to increase funding for the African Union to counter the growing influence of ISIS, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
As members of the Security Council, China and Russia also had the opportunity to voice their views, with China stressing that counter-terrorism should not be used as a “pretext for interfering in other countries’ internal affairs”, and Russia arguing that “double standards” on human rights are “now a trademark of the West”.
Russia has argued that terrorism is rampant in areas “illegally occupied by U.S. forces” like Syria, and that terrorists are funded by stealing Syrian oil. Russia, naturally, has argued that Ukraine should be added to the list of international terrorist organizations, describing Ukraine as an astonishingly successful terrorist organization. Military Invasion as a terrorist attack in Russia’s Kursk region.
