Thread by @jseldin

#ISIS in #Iraq #Syria "remains resilient" per latest @UN report, calling it "a cause of concern for Member States"

"#ISIL operations have increased in the core conflict zone of Iraq & the Syrian Arab Republic" per the report

#ISIS "#ISIL maintains the ambition to control territory & populations but, for the moment, represents an entrenched rural insurgency without the reach to threaten urban areas on a sustained basis" per @UN report

.@UN report says there may be an #ISIS power vacuum

"The new leader of #ISIL, Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, has not visibly asserted himself in communications, which may prove to be a limiting factor in his influence and appeal, & perhaps that of the group"

"The delegation of authority from the [#ISIS] core to the remote provinces & the loosening of command & control within #ISIL are expected to continue & perhaps accelerate in present circumstances" per @UN report

.@UN report estimates #ISIS has more than 10,000 fighters in #Iraq & #Syria "with regular movement between the two, especially where #Anbar & #Ninawa Provinces border the Syrian Arab Republic"

ISIS "has established safe havens in the Hamrin mountain range of north-eastern Iraq"

#ISIS waging "war of attrition" in #Iraq, per @UN report "... targeting security forces & other communities, as well as members of its own community who are deemed to be collaborators"

#ISIS "has exploited security gaps caused by the pandemic and by political turbulence in #Iraq to relaunch a sustained rural insurgency, as well as sporadic operations in #Baghdad & other large cities" per @UN report

#ISIS utilizing political assassinations as parts of its #Iraq strategy, per @UN

"It also attacks businesses in territories it previously occupied...Attacks on farms and the burning of crops in fields have become increasingly common tactics"

In #Syria "the overall situation remains precarious" re #ISIS, with concern about prisons, displaced person camps

"A steady stream of #ISIL-affiliated women are reported to have escaped the camp into #Turkey with the aid of corrupt guards & smugglers" per @UN report

East of the #Euphrates River, #ISIS fighters "attacking energy, transport & communications facilities" per @UN report

West of the river, sleeper cells attack "power installations & oil facilities...military convoys & civilian traffic along the Dayr-al-Zawr Tadmur (Palmyra) Road"

Per @UN, ISIS has 100 fighters in sleeper cells in #Suwaydah #Syria

Estimates of 400 active ISIS fighters in #Dar'a

#ISIS financial reserves at $100 million, per @UN-down from previous estimates of up to $300 million

"The group continues to raise funds deemed sufficient for its ongoing operations...kidnap for ransom,donations, some commercial activity&the extortion of individuals &businesses"