RASC News Agency: Vladimir Voronkov, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, warned on Thursday that the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State group, known as ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan Province), poses the greatest external terrorist threat to Europe, as it strengthens its organizational capabilities.
Voronkov stated that ISIS-K has improved its financial and logistical capacities over the past six months, particularly by leveraging support from Afghanistan and Central Asian diasporas. ISIS-K, which stands for Islamic State Khorasan Province, is the group’s branch in Afghanistan. The group claimed responsibility for a March attack on a music hall in Moscow, which resulted in the deaths of 145 people.
Voronkov noted that the risk of ISIS-K carrying out terrorist attacks abroad has “become manifest,” adding that the group has intensified its recruitment efforts. In the latest report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, published last month, authorities were on high alert against potential attacks during the Euro football championship and the Paris Olympics.
Guterres called on all member states to unite in preventing Afghanistan from becoming a hotbed of terrorist activities that could impact other countries.
Furthermore, Voronkov warned of a resurgence of ISIS’s core structure in the Middle East and a deteriorating situation in Africa, where ISIS West Africa Province and ISIS’s Sahel branch “have expanded and consolidated their areas of operations.”
