UN says Islamic State group poses persistent, complex threat

The threat posed by the Islamic State group around the world has grown steadily since mid-2025 and become more complex as the jihadist organization adapts to stay alive, the United Nations says.

Islamic State and groups associated with it are growing in West Africa and the Sahel region while continuing to stage attacks in Iraq and Syria, Alexandre Zouev, an official with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, tells the Security Council.

“In Afghanistan, IS in Khorasan continues to pose one of the most serious threats to the region and beyond,” he says.

Zouev says a shooting rampage against a Jewish Hanukkah event at a beach in Australia in December that left 15 people dead was inspired by IS ideology.

Late last month, the group claimed responsibility for a rare attack on the main airport in Niger. This confirmed its rising power in the Sahel. Days earlier, it claimed an attack on a Chinese restaurant in Kabul that left seven people dead.