Peoples Gazette
Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, says the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), a terrorist group, is expanding its affiliates and network beyond Syria and Iraq to Nigeria and other West African coun.
On Wednesday, the UN counter-terrorism chief told the Security Council that the epicentre of ISIL terrorist group – officially known as Da’esh – activities now appeared to be in the African continent.
The under-secretary-general said that the terrorist activities were gaining ground in Central and West Africa, which he said continued at an “unsettling” scale and pace.
According to him, the terrorist activities are intensifying in Central, and West Africa – especially Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Niger – and attacks are increasingly reported in the border area between Mozambique and Tanzania.
Pointing to potential spill-over effects that could reach even beyond the continent, he urged countries to use every tool at their disposal to sustain important gains made against the group.
Mr Voronkov urged them to use every tool to sustain the gains made against the group, preventing its further regional expansion, curtailing its attack capabilities and preventing additional recruitment.
“As we begin a new decade of counter-terrorism, it is time to ask ourselves difficult questions and search for honest answers,” added the UN official.
According to him, the global fight against the shadowy, ever-morphing threat posed by the ISIL terrorist group and its affiliates remains a “long-term game” for which there are “no quick fixes.”
