U.N. warns about complacency from IS losses

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. counterterrorism chief warned Monday that recent losses by Islamic State extremists “should not lead to complacency at any level,” saying the extremist group remains a global threat with up to 18,000 militants in Iraq and Syria.

Vladimir Voronkov also told the Security Council that the Islamic State group is reported to have created a network of cells in various cities in Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, and is closely linked to its leaders in Syria and Iraq.

He said the Islamic State’s “center of gravity” remains in Iraq and Syria, where it reportedly controls between 14,000 and 18,000 militants, and its central leadership maintains “an intent to generate internationally directed attacks.”

His briefing on the latest U.N. report on extremist threats from the Islamic State and al-Qaida comes as President Donald Trump has ordered a U.S. troop withdrawal in Syria, saying IS has been defeated, and a potential troop pullout in Afghanistan.

Voronkov, the undersecretary-general of the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism, said the threat from IS has increased because of combatants who fought with the group returning home, relocating or being released.

Michele Coninsx, head of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, said IS’ dramatic loss of territory “has driven its evolution into a covert and more locally focused network in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.”

She told the council the Islamic State group— also known as ISIS — aims to undermine stabilization and rebuilding in its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

The extremist group “remains one of the international terrorist groups most likely to carry out a large-scale, complex attack in the future,” Coninsx said.

U.S. deputy ambassador Jonathan Cohen said the significant military setbacks IS has suffered, notably in Iraq, Syria and the southern Philippines, are “a testament” to the work of a global coalition to defeat the extremist group.

But he said “much more work remains to be done to defeat ISIS.”

Cohen made no mention of any troop withdrawals from Syria or Afghanistan but said “ISIS is seeking to survive, reconstitute and ultimately re-emerge in Iraq and Syria.”

“ISIS is also coordinating with affiliates to plan attacks elsewhere, including Afghanistan, southeast Asia and west Africa,” he said.

Delis Souleiman/ AFP/Getty Images Syrian Democratic Forces fighters stand guard as a convoy of truck transports civilians fleeing the battered Islamic State-held holdout of Baghouz in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor on Monday.