NEW YORK, USA
Africa became the
region hardest hit by terrorism in the first half of 2021 as the Islamic State
and al-Qaida extremist groups and their affiliates spread their influence,
boasting gains in supporters and territory and inflicting the greatest
casualties, U.N. experts said in a new report. |
| Refugees seek shelter in Pemba, Mozambique, after fleeing attacks in Palma, on April 12 2021. |
The panel of
experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday that
this is “especially true” in parts of west and east Africa where affiliates of
both groups can also boast growing capabilities in fundraising and weapons,
including the use of drones.
Several of
the most successful affiliates of the Islamic State are in its central and west
Africa province, and several of al-Qaida’s are in Somalia and the Sahel region,
they said.
The experts
said it’s “concerning” that these terrorist affiliates are spreading their
influence and activities including across borders from Mali into Burkina Faso,
Ivory Coast, Niger and Senegal as well as incursions from Nigeria into
Cameroon, Chad and Niger in west Africa. In the east, the affiliates’ activities
have spread from Somalia into Kenya and from Mozambique into Tanzania, they
said.
One of “the
most troubling events” of early 2021 was the local Islamic State affiliate’s
storming and brief holding of Mozambique’s strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia
in Cabo Delgado province near the border with Tanzania “before withdrawing with
spoils, positioning it for future raids in the area,” the panel said.
Overall, the
experts said, COVID-19 continued to affect terrorist activity and both the
Islamic State, also known as ISIL, and al-Qaida “continued to gloat over the
harm done by the coronavirus disease pandemic to their enemies, but were unable
to develop a more persuasive narrative.”
“While ISIL
contemplated weaponizing the virus, member states detected no concrete plans to
implement the idea,” the panel said.
In Europe
and other non-conflict zones, lockdowns and border closures brought on by
COVID-19 slowed the movement and gathering of people “while increasing the risk
of online radicalization,” it said.
The experts
warned that attacks “may have been planned in various locations” during the
pandemic “that will be executed when restrictions ease.”
The panel
said that in Iraq and Syria, “the core conflict zone for ISIL,” the extremist
group’s activities have evolved into “an entrenched insurgency, exploiting
weaknesses in local security to find safe havens, and targeting forces engaged
in counter-ISIL operations.”
Despite
heavy counter-terrorism pressures from Iraqi forces, the experts said Islamic
State attacks in Baghdad in January and April “underscored the group’s
resilience.”
In Syria’s
rebel-held northwest Idlib province, the experts said groups aligned with
al-Qaida continue to dominate the area, with “terrorist fighters” numbering
more than 10,000.
“Although
there has been only limited relocation of foreign fighters from the region to
other conflict zones, member states are concerned about the possibility of such
movement, in particular to Afghanistan, should the environment there become
more hospitable to ISIL or groups aligned with al-Qaida,” the panel said.
In central,
south and southeast Asia, the experts said Islamic State and al-Qaida
affiliates continue to operate “notwithstanding key leadership losses in some
cases and sustained pressure from security forces.”
The experts
said the status of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri “is unknown,” and if he is
alive several unnamed member states “assess that he is ailing, leading to an
acute leadership challenge for al-Qaida.”
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