Despite the military successes of the anti-jihadist coalition in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State (IS) group has grown internationally, especially in Africa, a senior US government official said on Thursday (September 17th).
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"
Over the past year, US and coalition counterterrorism efforts have eliminated key IS leaders and disrupted the group's terrorist operations in several areas,
" said Christopher Miller, director of the ISIS. United States National Counterterrorism Center.
"
But the group continues to pursue an aggressive global strategy
" and now has 20 affiliated groups around the world, especially in Africa, added Christopher Miller, who presented before a congressional committee the annual report of the American intelligence services on the threats against the United States globally.
"
Ability to bounce back
"
Since the American raid which caused the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, the United States and its allies have eliminated several personalities from the group, but "
IS has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to bounce back,
" said the American official in a document given to elected officials during his hearing.
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“
In parts of Africa, IS groups carry out frequent attacks on local law enforcement agencies and expand their territory, while coalition operations and attacks by rival groups have hampered its growth in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen,
”the document said.
French aid workers in Niger killed by IS
IS claimed responsibility for the August 9 assassination in Niger of eight people, six French aid workers and two Nigeriens.
For the US counterterrorism services, ISIS "
is still seeking to conduct operations against Westerners although counterterrorism pressure has reduced the group's capabilities to conduct operations on the scale of the attacks in Paris and Brussels
" in 2015 and 2016.
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In Syria and Iraq, ISIS continued to conduct operations at a "
sustained
"
pace
, including an attack on the Iraqi military in May that injured and killed dozens of Iraqi soldiers.
The group posted videos of the attacks to show that its fighters were still active despite being ousted last year from their
self-proclaimed
"
caliphate
" which covered a vast territory straddling Syria and Iraq.
According to Christopher Miller, ISIS's next goal is to free the thousands of its fighters and their families held in camps in northeastern Syria.
The document points out that jihadist groups have benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic because it has allowed terrorist groups to "
present the disease as divine punishment
" and "
affected people's confidence in the ability of their governments to take care of of them
”.