Is the self-proclaimed Islamic State resurfacing? The fears of the UN

The boss of the United Nations Office Against Terrorism (UNOCT), Vladimir Voronkov, on Wednesday warned that the threat to international peace and security Islamic state “It is increasing again” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Terrorists have retained their ability to move and whose socio-economic and political consequences could make “people even more receptive to it.” radicalization and the recruitment“.

“While the Islamic State has not developed a strategy In an effort to exploit the pandemic, their efforts to consolidate and revitalize their activities have gained momentum, “Voronkov told the security Council.

So he pointed out that it is “crucial“That member states remain” focused and united “to fight terrorism since, as he clarified, while the international community continues to face the legacies of the group’s” caliphate “, some 10,000 combatants, mainly Iraqis , raise a “major, long-term and global threat”.

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“They are organized into small cells that hide in the desert and rural areas and cross the border between the two countries, carrying out attacks,” he said.

On the other hand, Voronkov also addressed the situation of women and children related to fighters who find themselves in a “terrible“Humanitarian and security situation in detention centers and camps for internally displaced persons, such as Al Hol.

<< Almost two years after the territorial defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, around 27,500 foreign children they are still in danger in the camps in northeastern Syria, ”he lamented.

In this sense, he echoed the call of the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “Voluntarily repatriate adults and children stranded in Iraq and Syria”.

Voronkov also stressed the need to end the “scourge of terrorism” by defeating the Islamic State in cyberspace, disrupting new attacks globally and addressing the threat posed by its regional affiliates, by especially in Africa.

“And we urgently need to resolve the protracted problem of the members of the group, lest our failure allow its resurgence,” he said, in order to ensure that through the Global Coordination Compact against Terrorism, The United Nations system will continue to “support Member States as they develop. with these challenges.”

What the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee warns about Islamic State

On the other hand, the executive director of United Nations Counterterrorism Committee, Michèle Coninsx, insisted on the current “volatile and complex” security environment which is distinguished by the “generational challenges” of terrorist groups.

In this context, he identified the pandemic as “most urgent challenge “ as he put it, “he accelerated a lot of underlying issues that fuel various threats and leave us in a very precarious situation.

Among other things, he targeted the diversion of attention and resources from the fight against violence and extremism by terrorist groups and obstacles for member states to repatriate citizens from Syria and Iraq.

Finally, Coninsx She ensured that the restrictions on the pandemic worsened the situation of women and children in the camps who “do not have access to medicine, hygiene or shelter.