UN experts: Islamic State militants still pose world threat
UNITED NATIONS — The Islamic State extremist group still poses “a significant and evolving threat around the world” despite recent setbacks in Iraq, Syria and the southern Philippines that forced the militants to relinquish strongholds, U.N. experts said.
Their report to the Security Council circulated Tuesday said IS “has lost its focus on conquering and holding territory” but is continuing “to give prominence to external attacks.”
“In future, it will focus primarily on a smaller and more motivated group of individuals willing to fight or conduct attacks,” the experts said.
According to the experts, the Islamic State group is now organized “as a global network, with a flat hierarchy and less operational control over its affiliates,” with some members willing to cooperate with al-Qaida networks “to support one another’s attacks.”
As a result of the changing threat, the report said the fight against the extremist group is entering a new phase “with more focus on less visible networks of individuals and cells acting with a degree of autonomy.”
The experts said in some ways, individual countries and the international community now face “a more difficult challenge,” making it vital to share information on the identity of former fighters, their location and travel plans.
They said IS foreign fighters unable to blend into the local population may be trying to leave, making their identification critical.
“ISIL has collected travel and identification documents from incoming fighters for potential use in future travel and has obtained several thousand blank Syrian passports,” the experts said. While the numbers have been reported to INTERPOL and are in their database, “member states highlighted that their use by returnees or relocators is possible.”
The experts said countries bordering Iraq and Syria have highlighted “continued challenges” in identifying IS foreign fighters seeking to return home or relocate, as well as those on the U.N. sanctions blacklist.