‘IS funding attacks, al Qaeda is resilient’: UN experts report

UNITED NATIONS: The Islamic State extremist group is still capable of sending funds to supporters and motivating attacks in Europe and elsewhere despite military pressure and falling revenue - and al Qaeda remains resilient especially in West Africa, East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, UN experts said in a report circulated yesterday.

The experts monitoring sanctions against the extremist groups said competition between the Islamic State and al Qaeda continues, but ‘‘shifting alliances’' among fighters ‘‘and co-operation on the tactical level in several regions also allow them to move between various groups’'.

The report said the extremist threat continues to rise in Southeast Asia, where IS wants to establish a foothold. It said recent events in the southern Philippines, where the city of Marawi has been under siege by IS-linked militants for more than two months, is evi- dence of this. The experts said in the report to the UN Security Council that ‘‘the core’' of the Islamic State extremist group is adapting to military pressure in Iraq and Syria by delegating decision-making responsibility to local commanders and switching to encrypted communications.

Several member states highlighted ‘‘the increasingly creative use of drones’' by IS, primarily in Iraq and Syria. They said the group is developing the capability to design and construct larger drones which will increasingly enable it ‘‘to weaponise the drones, thereby increasing its ability to strike at a distance,’' according to the report. It said IS ‘‘continues to send funds to its affiliates worldwide’' and is likely to do so as long as the group has the means. IS leaders have also sent money to places where the group doesn’t have affiliates in an attempt to prepare for its eventual defeat in Iraq and Syria. - AP