United Nations Aug 24 (IANS) The Islamic State (IS) remains a cause of a serious and significant concern despite the great losses the terrorist group has suffered Vladimir Voronkov undersecretary-general for UN Counter-Terrorism Office has said.

Since the end of 2017 the IS has been defeated in Iraq and is in headlong retreat in Syria Voronkov told the Security Council on Thursday Xinhua news agency reported.

IS membership in Iraq and Syria is estimated at more than 20 000 split fairly evenly between the two countries.
Some IS fighters are fully engaged militarily and others concealed in sympathetic communities and urban areas. The IS has also decentralised its leadership structure to mitigate further losses said the top UN counter-terrorism official briefing the council on a report of the UN secretary-general on the IS.

An IS core is likely to survive in Iraq and Syria in the medium term due to the ongoing conflict and complex stabilization challenges he said. In addition significant IS-affiliated numbers also exist in Afghanistan Southeast Asia West Africa and Libya and to a lesser extent in Sinai Yemen Somalia and the Sahel.

Also the challenge posed by returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters remains complex said Voronkov.

The flow of foreign terrorist fighters toward the IS in Iraq and Syria has essentially come to a halt. However the reverse flow although slower than anticipated remains a serious challenge he said.

Moreover the rising threat from the IS s global network particularly from foreign terrorist fighters will be diverse and hard to predict.

The IS evolution from a proto-state structure into a covert network poses new challenges he said.

The IS finances in the Middle East are harder to detect and analyze now as administrative functions to manage finances have gone underground. After its structural changes the IS is still able to channel funds across borders often via intermediate countries to their final destination he said.

The IS continuing presence and influence has been detected particularly through its affiliates and intermediaries said the UN official.

The IS has continued attempts to expand its presence in Afghanistan and the terrorist threats projecting from Afghanistan into Central Asia is perceived to be growing he said.

Countries must renew their efforts to effectively counter the rapidly evolving and transnational threats from the IS he said adding that international cooperation information sharing and capacity-building are critical.

--IANS pgh/