‘ ISIS overtakes Qaeda as leader of extremists’

Washington, Oct. 8: The ISIS militant group has overtaken Al Qaeda as leader of the global violent extremist movement and has access to a large pool of potential recruits in Western countries, US national counterterrorism centre chief Nick Rasmussen said on Thursday.

In congressional testimony, Mr Rasmussen also said that counterterrorism experts still regard Al Qaeda’s Yemen- based affiliate AQAP as a big threat due to its interest in attacking the United States and airplanes.

FBI counterterrorism

Counterterrorism experts still regard Al Qaeda’s Yemenbased affiliate AQAP as a huge threat due to its interest in attacking US and airplanes

investigators followed “dozens and dozens” of potential militants around the US full time during the summer and “disrupted” many of them, FBI director James Comey said.

Mr Comey, who testified before the Senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs along with Mr Rasmussen said US investigators are aware of dozens of USbased Islamic militant suspects who now are using encrypted communications.

Mr Comey said investigators had followed “dozens and dozens of people around the United States 24/ 7” during the summer and had “disrupted” them.

Mr Comey told the committee that ISIS recruits from the United States are incrementally younger with more “girls — women under 18” — seeking to join the militant group.