The UN’s counter-terror committee has said the threat posed by ISIS still exists and that the terror group is “expanding and exploiting” Afghanistan.
In its latest report to the UN Security Council on ISIS, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) says the group needs to be “closely monitored” following the death of its leader, Muhammad Al Mawla, also known as Abu Ibrahim Al Hashimi Al Qurayshi.
Al Qurayshi was killed in February when he detonated a bomb in the third-storey apartment he and his family shared in Atmeh village in north-western Syria as US forces closed in.
The warning comes as the head of Britain's domestic intelligence service, Ken McCallum, said that Afghanistan is becoming a hotbed for terrorism.
He says the service has evidence of terrorist groups gathering in Afghanistan and recruits are travelling to join them.
Weixiong Chen, the acting executive director of CTED, says ISIS is expanding.
“The threat of ISIS persists, as the group and its affiliates continue to recalibrate their strategic and operational approaches,” he said.
“ISIS has become more decentralised, with supporters notably emerging and expanding their operations in battlefields of West, East, Southern and Central Africa. and is also seeking to exploit recent developments in Afghanistan.
“It has also continued to regroup in its traditional geographical centre, resulting in a resurgence of violence in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. Developments following the recent death of the ISIS leader should be closely monitored.”
He also said nations need to continue to monitor terrorism financing.
“Monitoring and suppressing the flow of funds to ISIS and other terrorist groups also remains an imperative for the international community.”
Mr Chen added that the pandemic has created “fertile ground” for the expansion of terrorism.
“The pandemic has also influenced existing trends in terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, and has also generated human rights concerns, which may provide fertile ground for further exploitation and potential radicalisation to violence,” he said.
“The challenges that have arisen during the pandemic have curtailed not only counter-terrorism operations, but also civil society and humanitarian outreach, thereby worsening pre-existing conditions of displacement and insecurity.
“The lack of measures and strategies to ensure safe and voluntary repatriation, as well as comprehensive and tailored prosecution, rehabilitation, reintegration, may also expose already vulnerable populations to further violence.”
After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August, there were fears that the country would again become a safe haven for terrorist groups despite Taliban leaders vowing not to shelter them.
In August, ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US soldiers who had been involved in evacuation efforts.
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ARGENTINA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Maestro
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Company%C2%A0profile
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