Terror remains an enduring threat around the globe even as ISIS is being defeated on battlefields, The New York Times reported.
American and other Western intelligence officials said in interviews that threats from terrorists remain complex and diverse. The Islamic State is adapting to setbacks, using Bitcoin and encrypted communications to move their fight underground, the report said.
"If you look across the globe, the cohesive nature of the enterprise for ISIS has been maintained… there’s not been any breaking up, at least not as yet. The message continues to resonate with way too many people," said Russell Travers, the acting head of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Counterterrorism specialists are concerned that refocusing resources could give violent extremists time to regroup, such as when the Islamic State did so in 2013 out of the remains of Al-Qaida in Iraq, the report said.
"I fear that without continuing counterterrorism pressure, where there are ungoverned spaces used as sanctuaries, there will be insurgent threats," said Christopher B. Costa, former senior director for counterterrorism on President Donald Trump’s National Security Council.
Allies of America agreed. "Europe faces an intense, unrelenting, and multidimensional international terrorist threat," said Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic spy service, The Times reported.
While the Islamic State has lost almost all the territory it seized in 2014 in Iraq, it still controls about 1,000 square miles, and while many of the group’s senior leaders have been killed, American intelligence and military officials warn that the Islamic State still has a potent foothold, calling on followers from Europe to the Philippines to set up attacks where they are, the report said.
Officials are concerned that battlefield plots and operations are making their way into everyday social media channels, where aspiring terrorists and lone actors could use them.
"It does appear that the possibility of this kind of use is growing, and that is a concern to all of us," Travers said, The Times reported.
Social media platform Facebook is combating social media posts by al-Qaida and ISIS. Erin Saltman, the site’s global counterterrorism chief, said the site had removed 1.9 million terrorist-related posts in the first quarter of 2018, The Jerusalem Post reported.
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