Washington, March 30, (dpa/GNA) – The extremist militia organization Islamic State (IS or ISIS) “remains a threat,” a US envoy has warned.
The terrorist group continues to pose a significant security threat in Syria and Iraq and beyond, including Europe and North America, John Godfrey, the acting special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, said in Washington on Monday.
Godfrey said that “since the defeat of ISIS’s fraudulent territorial caliphate” in 2019, it has intensified its focus on the activities of its branches and networks.
This was demonstrated by an attack in Mozambique at the weekend in which more than 55 Mozambican security forces were killed, the envoy added:
“Attacks such as these are clear indicators that ISIS continues to actively seek to spread its malign activity to new fronts.
“Ensuring the enduring global defeat of ISIS will entail effectively countering ISIS branches and networks outside of Iraq and Syria, and we as a coalition recognize that.”
Several foreign ministers of countries in the anti-ISIS coalition are holding a virtual meeting on Tuesday co-hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sophie Wilmes, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.
Tuesday’s meeting will largely focus on the coalition’s continuing efforts in Iraq and Syria, Godfrey explained.
In addition, the meeting would discuss the growing threat of the terror group outside of Iraq and Syria, particularly in Africa, and the ways in which the coalition can contribute to collective efforts to ensure its enduring defeat around the world.
GNA