Islamic State extremists exploit instability in Africa and Syria, UN experts say

The United Nations – Islamic state extremists exploit instability in Africa and Syria and remain a significant threat to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe, experts in the fight against terrorism said on Wednesday.

The militant group now uses advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and social media, which poses a new challenge, said experts to a meeting of the UN Security Council.

The Islamic State group said a self -proclaimed caliphate in a large band of Syria and Iraq which he seized in 2014. He was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 after a three -year battle that made tens of thousands of people who died and cities in many other countries.

The UN has experienced a resurgence of Islamic State activity in the Sahel – in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – and in West Africa, the group appeared “as prolific prolific terrorist propaganda and attracted foreign terrorist fighters, mainly from the region,” said the UN Voronkov.

He said that arrests in Libya revealed that logistics and financing networks with links with IS in the Sahel.

In Somalia, said Voronkov, a large scale is thwarted by the Somali security forces and some 200 that the combatants were killed and more than 150 arrested. But he said that despite the losses, the benefits of regional support networks and remain a threat.

In the region of the Lake Chad Basin in North Africa of the center-center, the Islamic State “receives more and more material and human support to conduct its operations, in particular money, drones and expertise on improvised explosive devices,” said Natalia Gherman, who directs the executive management of the UN terrorism committee.

“Her ability to adapt and exploit instability continues to pose significant challenges, especially in certain parts of Africa,” she said. “The continent supports more than half of the deaths of the world of terrorist attacks.”

In the Middle East, Voronkov said that it is active in Iraq and Syria, where he tries to restore his operations in the northwest desert region of Badia and renew the effort to destabilize local authorities. He said activists operated security gaps, carrying out secret operations and inciting sectarian tensions in Syria.

In Afghanistan, the affiliate of Khorasan of the Islamic State group “continues to represent one of the most serious threats to Central Asia and beyond,” said Voronkov, citing his targeting of civilians, minority groups and foreign nationals.

Gherman added that Is-Khorasan uses “propaganda tactics and online campaigns” to try to recruit and collect funds in Central Asia and Europe.

She called for innovative responses to the use by the Islamic State group of artificial intelligence and social media for recruitment, fundraising and propaganda.

“Although AI is used to amplify the scope and impact of the group, it also has significant potential for states to improve the detection, prevention and disruption of terrorist activities,” said Gherman.

Elisa de Anda Madrazo, president of the Financial Action Task Force, who is looking for how terrorism is funded, said that a major change is that “digital platforms such as social media, messaging applications and crowdfunding systems are increasingly mistreated for terrorist funding”.