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“The threat posed by ISIL to international peace and security is on the rise again,” warned the top UN official on Counter-Terrorism, urging the member states “to remain focused and united to counter it.” UNIFEED
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STORY: UN / COUNTER-TERRORISM
TRT: 3:25
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 10 FEBRUARY 2021, NEW YORK CITY

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1. Exterior shot, UN Headquarters

10 FEBRUARY 2021, NEW YORK CITY

2. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism:
“The threat posed by ISIL to international peace and security is on the rise again. It is critical that Member States remain focused and united to counter it, despite the strains and competing priorities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
4. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism:
“While ISIL has not developed a purposeful strategy to exploit the pandemic, its efforts to regroup and to reinvigorate its activities gained further momentum in the second half of 2020. Its core in Iraq and Syria and its affiliates in other conflict zones have continued to take advantage of the disruption caused by the virus to step up their operations, with a number of high-profile attacks. ISIL fighters have maintained the ability to move and operate, including across unprotected borders.”
6. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism:
“Outside conflict zones, the risk of exposure to ISIL propaganda and incitement has continued to grow as people – especially young – spend more time at home and online. This could lead to a sudden rash of attacks in some countries, when COVID-19-related movement restrictions ease.”
8. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism:
“ISIL’s primary focus remains resurgence in Iraq and Syria, where the international community continues to grapple with the legacies of the group’s so-called ‘caliphate’. Some 10,000 ISIL fighters, including foreign terrorist fighters in the low thousands, remain active in the region, the majority of them in Iraq, pursuing a protracted insurgency. These sizable remnants are assessed to pose a major, long-term and global threat. They are organized in small cells hiding in desert and rural areas and moving across the border between the two countries, waging attacks.”
10. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate:
“CTED analysis indicates that COVID-19’s financial impact may make terrorist groups more reliant on criminal activities, including drug smuggling, trafficking minerals and precious stones, fraud, cybercrime and the sale of counterfeit medicines.”
12. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate:
“Despite the significant progress achieved over recent years, ISIL and its affiliates remain a dangerous and continuing threat. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue to present the international community with significant and multifaceted challenges, including in relation to counterterrorism.”
14. Multiscreen, Security Council in virtual meeting

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Storyline

“The threat posed by ISIL to international peace and security is on the rise again,” warned the top UN official on Counter-Terrorism, urging the member states “to remain focused and united to counter it.”

In a briefing to the Security Council on the UN Secretary-General’s biannual strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov said “while ISIL has not developed a purposeful strategy to exploit the pandemic, its efforts to regroup and to reinvigorate its activities gained further momentum in the second half of 2020. Its core in Iraq and Syria and its affiliates in other conflict zones have continued to take advantage of the disruption caused by the virus to step up their operations, with a number of high-profile attacks. ISIL fighters have maintained the ability to move and operate, including across unprotected borders.”

He also said “outside conflict zones, the risk of exposure to ISIL propaganda and incitement has continued to grow as people – especially young – spend more time at home and online. This could lead to a sudden rash of attacks in some countries, when COVID-19-related movement restrictions ease.”

He warned that “ISIL’s primary focus remains resurgence in Iraq and Syria,” where some 10,000 fighters, including “foreign terrorist fighters in the low thousands,” mostly in Iraq, are actively pursuing “a protracted insurgency.”

These elements “are assessed to pose a major, long-term and global threat. They are organized in small cells hiding in desert and rural areas and moving across the border between the two countries, waging attacks,” Voronkov said.

Also briefing the Council, the Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) said her office’s analysis “indicates that COVID-19’s financial impact may make terrorist groups more reliant on criminal activities, including drug smuggling, trafficking minerals and precious stones, fraud, cybercrime and the sale of counterfeit medicines.”

She warned that “despite the significant progress achieved over recent years, ISIL and its affiliates remain a dangerous and continuing threat. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue to present the international community with significant and multifaceted challenges, including in relation to counterterrorism.”

Both briefers addressed the prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration of foreign terrorist calling on states to voluntarily repatriate their citizens living in camps or detention centers in Iraq and north-east Syria, encountering severe lack of water, sanitation, shelter, hygiene, and education.

Voronkov singled out the situation in the Syrian al-Hol refugee camp, where some 65,000 people - 7,000 of them children are living in the overcrowded camp with their most basic of human rights being undermined. Many instances of terrorist radicalization, fund-raising, training and incitement have been reported.

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