A UN report warns of an increase in ISIS activity after the American withdrawal from N,E Syria

The report said: After the organization lost its territory, it began to arrange itself in both Syria and Iraq, where it carried out attacks, and plans to remove the organization's fighters from detention camps. The organization took advantage of the weak security conditions in both countries.

The lengthy report indicated that one of the reasons for ISIS's resilience is its adequate sources of funding, especially after the organization's declining public expenditures decreased as it no longer had a large "state" to manage it.

The report said: According to one of the most conservative assessments by the member states of the Security Council, ISIS still has $ 100 million in its treasury.

The report says: "The period between July to September 2019 witnessed an acceleration in the process of re-establishing ISIS as a secret network in Syria, in conformity with what happened in Iraq since 2017. The organization was freed from the responsibility to defend the lands, and there was a noticeable increase in attacks in areas that were quiet formerly lies in the hands of the Syrian government inside the country. "

The report pointed out that the borders between Iraq and Syria are not sufficiently secure, allowing some movements for fighters between the two countries, and recent developments in the east of the Euphrates have led to an increase in ISIS activity in the provinces of Deir Ezzor and Hasaka, and an increase in the number of attacks targeting the US-led coalition, and local non-state armed groups.

The report revealed that the new leader of the organization is Prince Muhammad Saeed Abdul Rahman Muhammad al-Mawla, who was a deputy to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but the report warned that the information has not yet been confirmed.

The United Nations report indicated that Trump's decision last fall to reduce the number of troops in Syria has created a greater risk of prison escapes by thousands of ISIS prisoners, who are still being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria.

The report estimated the number of ISIS prisoners in these prisons at about 10,000 fighters, including two thousand foreign fighters, and the report warned of a possible role for women detainees in making these detention centers extremist.

The United Nations report indicated that the Turkmen roots of the new Emir of ISIS, who led some countries to reassess it as just a temporary option until the group finds another prince more legitimate, descended from Qurashi lineage.

The report pointed out that ISIS will face a challenge in the long run, which is the enthusiasm of its supporters - especially in remote areas - to pledge allegiance to the new leader without endangering him by communicating directly with him and verifying his identity.

The report's findings concluded that the ISIS threat has generally decreased between 2015 and 2017, when ISIS took control of areas in Syria and Iraq, and launched a wave of attacks around the world, but there is great concern about the resilience of the organization and its followers around the world, as well as the potential threat of al-Qaeda .

The report pointed out that al-Qaeda branches are stronger than ISIS in some conflict areas, especially in the African Sahel region, Somalia, Yemen, and northwestern Syria, while warning against the joint efforts of ISIS and al-Qaeda in West Africa.

"It appears that ISIS has not renewed its ability to plan to work abroad, despite the appearance of documents in Syria regarding a plan within ISIS to re-establish its office to support its clients in Europe through planning and carrying out attacks," he added.

"Despite the current weak (organizational) structure, the risk of complex attacks in Europe - especially that may be carried out by experienced former agents, who have the ability to operate independently - is evaluated," the report continued.

In assessing the danger of al-Qaeda, the report focused in particular on the pro-al-Qaeda “Guardians of Religion” group, which consists of 3,500 to 5,000 pro-al-Qaeda members in the Syrian province of Idlib, where the leadership of this group intends to revive foreign operations against the interests of the West and the United States as long as possible.

The report warned that the threat of foreign fighters remains severe, as half or two-thirds of more than 40,000 fighters who joined ISIS are still alive, and this is expected to exacerbate the global threat posed by ISIS, and possibly al-Qaeda, in the coming years.

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