UN Officials Warn of Rising ISIS Attacks Worldwide

ISIS illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/aharan_kotogo)

JAKARTA - A senior UN counter-terrorism official told the Security Council on Wednesday that ISIS had stepped up attacks worldwide over the past six months despite continued international pressure.

Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Natalia Gherman said the group continues to carry out and inspire "destructive attacks" in various geographical areas, from Syria and Iraq, to the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, East Africa, and Australia.

"The impact is devastating," Gherman said, adding that UN monitors had documented the increasingly sophisticated fundraising and propaganda strategies used by the group.

Furthermore, Gherman warned that the humanitarian situation remains critical in Syria, where more than 26,000 people are detained in camps and detention facilities for being considered to have family ties to ISIS.

"Most are children who cannot return to their communities of origin and have been denied their right to a fair trial," he said.

He added that the latest changes in the management of the Al Hol camp in northeastern Syria require close monitoring and continued international involvement.

The camp was previously run by Syrian Kurdish forces, but they lost control of the camp to government forces last month.

The Al Hol detainees are part of a self-proclaimed caliphate by the militants, which was established after ISIS seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and was crushed by US-backed Kurdish forces in 2019. Many of those detained are women and children.

Meanwhile, a report by the UN Secretary-General circulated to Security Council members last week said the threat posed by ISIS had increased steadily since the previous assessment in August 2025, becoming more complex and spreading across multiple regions.

The report said that ISIS continues to exploit armed conflicts, political instability, and bad governance, and remains a major threat to human rights, development, and international peace and security.

"As this report makes very clear, the threat posed by Daesh [ISIS] has increased measurably," Gherman said.

"Terrorist violence has increased in various regions, and Daesh has proven to be financially and militarily resilient despite setbacks. We must not forget our common goal of maintaining international peace and security," he said.

Separately, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, said Washington remained "deeply concerned" and determined to take "bold action" against ISIS, Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

"They continue to exploit instability across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and the threat is growing," Waltz said.

"These threats are not only becoming more widespread and complex, but also increasingly involving foreign fighters who gather in various conflict zones," he said.

Waltz praised member states whose counter-terrorist operations have limited militant groups, especially in Iraq, Syria and Somalia.

He urged other countries, especially in Europe, to follow Baghdad's example in repatriating those detained and displaced from northeast Syria.

This comes after the US announced a series of other strikes against ISIS targets in Syria in response to December's attack that killed two American soldiers and an interpreter.

Last month, the US Central Command (US CENTCOM) began moving thousands of detained ISIS fighters to an unspecified "safe location" in Iraq, along with tens of thousands of women and children.

On the other hand, Baghdad views the camp as a threat to national and regional security.