UN warns terrorist threat has increased and is more diffuse

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council warned Thursday that the threat of terrorism has increased and become more diffuse in various regions of the world aided by new technologies. The presidential statement, approved by all 15 council members, was adopted at the end of an open meeting on counterterrorism chaired by External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India, who called terrorism “an existential threat to international peace and security.” In the presidential statement, which is a step below a resolution, the Security Council expressed grave concern that terrorists are raising and transferring funds in a variety of ways, including abusing legitimate businesses and non-profit groups, kidnapping for ransom and trafficking in people, cultural items, drugs and weapons. To tackle this, the council called for counter-narratives “promoting tolerance and coexistence.” The statement said combatting terrorism requires governments and the “whole of society” to cooperate in increasing awareness about the threats of terrorism and violent extremism and “effectively tackling them.” It said “strengthening cooperation in countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes” is needed, pointing to the increased use of the internet, social media, virtual assets, new financial instruments and the increasing global misuse of drones for terrorist attacks. U.N. counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov told the council in a virtual briefing that despite continuing leadership losses by al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremist group, “terrorism in general has become more prevalent and more geographically widespread, affecting the lives of millions worldwide.” In recent years, he said, Islamic State, al-Qaida and their affiliates have exploited instability, fragility and conflict to pursue their agendas “particularly in West Africa and the Sahel, where the situation remains urgent as terrorist groups strive to expand their area of operations.” These groups have also contributed to deteriorating security in central and southern Africa, he said. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told the council that “last year, the world faced more than 8,000 terrorist incidents, across 65 countries, killing more than 23,000 people.” She said the U.N. estimates that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism has increased over 320% in recent years.