UN sees heightened threat of Islamic State Khorasan attacks outside Afghanistan

NEW YORK — The head of the United Nations counter-terrorism office warned Thursday that IS-Khorasan, the Islamic State affiliate based in Afghanistan, poses a risk of launching attacks outside its borders.

“ISIL-K has increased its financial and logistical capabilities over the past six months, including by tapping into support from the Afghan and Central Asian diaspora,” said Vladimir Voronkov, using the terror group’s acronym for the group. “The group has also stepped up its recruitment efforts.”

He told a UN Security Council meeting on the threat of terrorism that the activities of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan “remain a serious concern.”

“We must unite to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a hotbed of terrorism,” Voronkov said, urging Afghanistan’s neighbors to work together to combat and stop the spread of the Islamic State threat.

The UN secretary-general said in a July 31 report that the threat from the Islamic State and its affiliates “remains high and the group and its affiliates continue to demonstrate resilience and adaptability despite sustained counterterrorism efforts.”

The report noted that following the deadly attacks by the Islamic State at a memorial service in Iran on January 3 and at a concert hall in Moscow on March 22, the Islamic State core “has allegedly directed personnel from Afghanistan and neighboring countries to carry out attacks abroad.”

Afghanistan’s de facto ruling Taliban claims its security forces have eliminated the Islamic State’s Khorasan base in the country and weakened the group’s ability to threaten national and regional security.

Voronkov also warned that parts of Africa remain hotbeds of IS activity, fuelling instability, particularly in West Africa and the Sahel. He said IS’s two regional wings – the Islamic State West Africa Province and the Greater Sahel – have expanded and consolidated their areas of operation.

“If these groups expand their influence in the northern coastal countries, large tracts of territory from Mali to northern Nigeria could fall under their effective control,” Voronkov warned.

He said they also posed a threat to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Mozambique and Somalia.

“Elsewhere, the threat level in Europe has increased due to the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) – which is considered the biggest external terrorist threat facing the continent,” Voronkov said.

Authorities in the Austrian capital Vienna announced on Wednesday that they had foiled an attack plot by a 19-year-old boy who had pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State online and was planning to carry out an attack at a concert by American pop star Taylor Swift this week.

Two other Austrian youths, aged 17 and 15, were also detained. Organisers cancelled three sold-out Vienna concerts out of an abundance of caution, disappointing nearly 200,000 fans, many of whom had travelled from abroad to see the shows.

Some of the information in this report comes from the Associated Press.