Islamic State Prepares For Resurgence

According to the United Nations latest six-month report on the activity of radical Islamic jihadists, the Islamic State terrorist organization continues to represent a very real threat to people around the world.

The Islamic State’s leadership “aims to adapt, survive and consolidate in the core area and to establish sleeper cells at the local level in preparation for eventual resurgence, while using propaganda to maintain the group’s reputation as the leading global terrorist brand – the ‘virtual caliphate,’ reads the report.

“When it has the time and space to reinvest in an external operations capability, ISIL will direct and facilitate international attacks in addition to the ISIL-inspired attacks that continue to occur in many locations around the world,” the report continues, while warning “The current abatement of such attacks, therefore, may not last long, possibly not even until the end of 2019.”

“Their future prospects will be of international concern for the foreseeable future,” the report says. “Some may join al-Qaida or other terrorist brands that may emerge. Some will become leaders or radicalizers.”

The UN’s report draws on information which was provided by the intelligence agencies of various UN member states.

The report also asserts that although there has been a drop in recent major terrorist attacks, the threat posed by the Islamic State “remains high”.

“Deradicalisation programmes have not proven to be fully effective,” the report reads.

It continues, saying “The most combat-hardened fighters serving longer sentences are not yet approaching release from prison. They remain dangerous and continue to pose a challenge both inside and outside the penal system.”

The report also asserts that the presence in radical Islamists in prison also raise the chance of “inmates afflicted by poverty, marginalisation, frustration, low self-esteem and violence” being radicalized.

The report also mentions that the Islamic State terror organization still has access to anywhere from $50 million to $300 million in left-over revenues of the caliphate.

The money could be easily used in a way that would inflict serious damage to targets.

The report also notes that of the approximately 6,000 European citizens who traveled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS and other jihadi networks, a third of them were killed, another third remain at large, and about two thousand or more are back living on European soil.