ISIS still threat despite loss of ‘caliphate’ – EU counterterrorism coordinator

30 Nov, 2017 07:41 / Updated 6 years ago

The recent loss of the so-called “caliphate” will cripple Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), but the terror threat posed by the extremists is not over yet, according to the EU’s counterterrorism coordinator. Gilles de Kerchove told AP that there hasn’t been a massive flow of IS fighters returning to Europe as many had feared following the group’s loss of territory in Syria and Iraq. The intelligence services describe the fighters' return as “more a trickle than a flow,” he said.  However, people inspired by the ideology remain a threat and the group is likely to entrench in other parts of world with “weak governance” such as Libya or Afghanistan, de Kerchove said.