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STORY: UN / COUNTERTERRORISM
TRT: 03:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 NOVEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
19 NOVEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sandra Jensen Landi, Ambassador, Denmark, the chair of the 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee:
“The threat posed by ISIL/Daesh, al-Qaida and their affiliates remains dynamic and geographically diverse, with the highest intensity observed in Africa. ISIL, Al-Qaeda, and the affiliates continue to step up the propaganda, exploiting social media platforms to glorify violence, recruit youth, and raise funds. The continued use of cryptocurrencies poses a growing challenge to sanctions implementation.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sandra Jensen Landi, Ambassador, Denmark, the chair of the 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee:
“al-Qaida central leadership remains weak and largely marginalized, while affiliates including JNIM [Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin] in the Sahel have exploited local grievances to expand their reach and financing. AQAP [Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] also continues to incite attacks and raise funds.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Amar Bendjama, Ambassador, Algeria, the chair of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC):
“The Committee has conducted eight visits since its last report to the Council from November 2024 until now. CTED [Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate] on behalf of the Committee has visited Austria, Cameroon, Chad, Hungary, Malta, Norway, Somalia and Turkmenistan. The visits provide an effective vehicle for direct and constructive engagement and dialog between the Committee and Member States.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Ambassador, Panama, the chair of the 1540 Committee:
“The unanimous adoption of resolution 1540 in 2004 by the Security Council more than 21 years ago, represented a crucial moment in international efforts to strengthen the nonproliferation architecture by addressing the threat posed by proliferation on the part of non-state actors, especially for terrorist purposes. The devastating and potentially catastrophic consequences that could result from the use of nuclear chemical or biological weapons by such actors remain a matter of serious concern for the international community.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Ambassador, Panama, the chair of the 1540 Committee:
“With respect to national implementation reports, 185 Member States have submitted to the Committee the initial reports providing information on the measures that they have taken or that they plan to take in order to implement resolution 1540, leaving only eight states that have not yet done so.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
“The threat posed by ISIL/Daesh, al-Qaida and their affiliates remains dynamic and geographically diverse,” Denmark’s UN Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning that Africa continued to face the “highest intensity” of extremist violence.
Addressing the Council’s annual briefing on counterterrorism committees, Landi said ISIL and al-Qaida elements were “stepping up the propaganda, exploiting social media platforms to glorify violence, recruit youth, and raise funds,” adding that “the continued use of cryptocurrencies poses a growing challenge to sanctions implementation.”
She noted that “al-Qaida central leadership remains weak and largely marginalized,” but affiliates had gained ground. Groups such as JNIM in the Sahel had “exploited local grievances to expand their reach and financing,” while AQAP “continues to incite attacks and raise funds.”
Overall, she said, ISIL and al-Qaida had proven resilient, adaptive and opportunistic, capitalizing on instability, weak governance and new technologies.
Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama, chairing the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee, highlighted intensified engagement with member states. “The Committee has conducted eight visits since its last report,” he said, noting CTED missions to Austria, Cameroon, Chad, Hungary, Malta, Norway, Somalia and Turkmenistan. Such visits, he added, “provide an effective vehicle for direct and constructive engagement and dialog.”
Panama’s Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba, who leads the 1540 Committee, stressed that preventing non-state actors from accessing weapons of mass destruction remained a core pillar of global security. “The unanimous adoption of resolution 1540 in 2004 … represented a crucial moment in international efforts to strengthen the nonproliferation architecture,” he said. The “devastating and potentially catastrophic consequences” of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons use by terrorist groups, he added, remained a major concern.
Alfaro also reported steady progress in national reporting. “With respect to national implementation reports, 185 Member States have submitted to the Committee the initial reports providing information on the measures that they have taken or that they plan to take in order to implement resolution 1540, leaving only eight states that have not yet done so,” he said.
The Council meets annually to review the work of its three counterterrorism committees: the sanctions regime targeting ISIL and al-Qaida; the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee; and the 1540 Committee on non-proliferation.
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