UNITED NATIONS – Daesh still has between 5,000 and 7,000 members in its former strongholds of Syria and Iraq, and its fighters pose the most severe terrorist danger in Afghanistan today, according to UN experts in a report released Monday.
The specialists monitoring sanctions against the extremist group, also known by its Arabic name Daesh, stated that during the first half of 2023, the threat presented by IS remained “mostly high in conflict zones and low in non-conflict areas.”
However, in a report to the UN Security Council, the panel stated that “the overall situation is dynamic,” and that despite major losses in the group’s leadership and diminished activity in Syria and Iraq, the potential of its revival remained.
“The group has adapted its strategy, embedding itself with local populations, and has exercised caution in choosing battles that are likely to result in limited losses, while rebuilding and recruiting from camps in the northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic and vulnerable communities, including those in neighboring countries,” the experts said.
Daesh declared a caliphate in a vast swath of land it controlled in Syria and Iraq in 2014. It was proclaimed defeated in Iraq in 2017 after a three-year fight that killed tens of thousands and destroyed cities, although its sleeper cells exist in both countries.
Despite ongoing counter-terrorism operations, Daesh still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members in Iraq and Syria, “the majority of whom are fighters,” according to experts, albeit it has slowed its attacks purposely “to facilitate recruiting and reorganization.”
According to the panel, around 11,000 alleged Daesh fighters are being kept in facilities of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have played a significant role in the war against IS. According to the report, the combatants comprise over 3,500 Iraqis and around 2,000 people from nearly 70 different countries.
Northeast Syria is also home to two closed camps, Al-Hol and Roj, where experts estimate that 55,000 people with alleged IS links or familial ties are living in “dire” conditions and “significant humanitarian hardship.”
According to analysts, almost two-thirds of the population are children, including over 11,800 Iraqis, nearly 16,000 Syrians, and over 6,700 children from more than 60 other countries.
According to the panel, Daesh has maintained its “Cubs of the Caliphate” initiative, recruiting children in the overcrowded Al-Hol camp. Furthermore, more than 850 boys, some as young as 10, were detained and rehabilitated in the northeast, according to specialists.
According to the panel, the Daesh terrorist organisation poses the most serious terrorist threat to Afghanistan and the region. According to reports, IS has expanded its operational capabilities and now has an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 militants and family members in Afghanistan.
On the bright side, experts say that the deployment of regional forces in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province interrupted the IS branch, and regional governments believe it now has 180-220 male combatants with battlefield experience, down from 280 earlier.
According to experts, some countries in the east are concerned that terrorist groups such as Daesh may use political unrest and instability in conflict-torn Sudan.
And some countries believe that the Daesh affiliate in Africa’s Sahel region “has become increasingly autonomous and has played a significant role in the escalation of violence in the region, alongside other terrorist groups,” citing increased IS attacks on multiple fronts in Mali and, to a lesser extent, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Source: AP