[AFRICANEWS] The terrorist threat from al-Qaeda, the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group, and their affiliates remains high in conflict zones in Africa and in Afghanistan — and threat levels have risen in some regions including Europe, U.N. experts said in a new report.
The panel of experts said in the 23-page report that the relationship between Afghanistan's Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
rulers and al-Qaeda remains close, and unnamed member states report that "the high concentration of terrorist groups" in the country is undermining the security situation in the region.
| Not actually a new thing since the Talibs reconquered Afghanistan. They’ve been protecting their little Friends of Al Qaeda club for years. |
Regionally, they pointed to a succession of attacks in neighboring Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and Pakistain and threats in Central Asian nations.
The panel said, however, that while none of the al-Qaeda affiliated groups have recovered the capability to launch long-range operations, "they harbor global ambitions." And it said "covert and calibrated efforts to rebuild capability" have been reported.
The Islamic State group broke away from al-Qaeda over a decade ago and attracted supporters from around the world. Despite its defeat in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later. The panel said the combined IS strength in the two countries is still between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters. In Iraq, they are carrying out "a low-intensity insurgency with covert terrorist cells" while in Syria attacks have intensified since November, the experts said.
The panel said the three-month delay in naming the current IS leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi, following the death in the fighting of his little-known predecessor "is judged indicative of internal difficulties and security challenges"
Some unnamed U.N. member nations have assessed that serious pressure from counter-terrorism operations in Syria and Iraq raises the possibility that the Islamic State could move its leadership and "center of gravity" to Africa or Afghanistan, with Africa more likely, the experts said.
In West Africa and the Sahel, the panel said, "violence and threat have escalated again" in conflict zones, raising concerns among U.N. member nations. The experts point to "a deficit in counterterrorism capabilities," which Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliated groups are continuing to exploit.
"The situation is becoming ever more complex with the conflation of ethnic and regional disputes with the agenda and operations of these groups," they said.
In East Africa, the experts said, the Somali government is continuing its military offensive against al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
, an al-Qaeda affiliate, but they said U.N. member nations assess that despite significant losses from air strikes and military operations, "al-Shabaab remains resilient. It has an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 fighters, and an estimated $100 million annual income, mostly from illegal taxation in the capital Mogadishu, and southern Somalia, they said.
The panel said al-Qaeda has improved its media productions which appeared aimed at restoring the murderous Moslem group's credibility, attracting recruits, and filling the void over its inability to announce a new leader.
But that messaging changed after Hamas
...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...' Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel, the experts said.
The attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and Hamas and other forces of Evil took about 250 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities. In Israel's ongoing offensive in response to Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
aimed at destroying Hamas, more than 27,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry which doesn't distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
The experts said al-Qaeda has focused on "the sanctity" of the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam which is in a compound in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Moslems, with some communications stressing "an obligation for individuals to take action to the limits of their ability."
"Member States are concerned that it (al-Qaeda) could exploit the situation to recover relevance and tap into popular dissent about the extent of civilian casualties, providing direction to those keen to act," the panel said, and they "are concerned that the renewed narrative could inspire self-initiated attacks globally."
Across Europe, the experts said, "formal terrorist threat levels have risen ... following fatal attacks in late 2023 in La Belle France and Belgium, in addition to numerous non-lethal terrorist incidents and arrests in several European countries."