UN report: Crisis in Syria has seen emergence of strong al-Qaeda presence

A United Nations report said the crisis in Syria has seen the emergence of a strong al-Qaida presence drawing from al-Qaida in Iraq attracting hundreds of recruits from outside Syria.

The al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra constitutes along with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham the core of backbone of the armed terrorist groups that are shedding the Syrians’ blood.

Despite the fact that the US has put Jabhat al-Nusra on its list of terrorist organizations, the US is still offering all forms of support, including arms, to the terrorist groups.

The new report, the 14th issued by analysts working for the Security Council Committee which deals with sanctions on al-Qaida, indicated that al-Qaeda and its affiliates have become “more diverse and differentiated than before, united only by a loose ideology and a commitment to terrorist violence.”

Yet, the report added, the diversity of al-Qaeda affiliates has not reduced the threat posed by these groups on civilians and national governments and on targets set by each affiliate in its area of activity.

It stressed that despite the fact that al-Qaeda’s ability has diminished, it still poses a big threat and its affiliates as “individuals and cells…continue to innovate with regard to targets, tactics and technology.”

According to the report, the current leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, “has demonstrated little capability to unify or lead al-Qaida affiliates.”

The UN analysts considered in their report that “Al-Qaida’s core has seen no revival of its fortunes over the past six months. A degraded senior leadership based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region continues to issue statements, but demonstrates little ability to direct operations through centralized command and control.”

They warned that “the reality of al-Qaida’s diminished capabilities and limited appeal does not mean that the threat of al-Qaida attacks has passed.”

They indicated that the threat is changing however as terrorist propaganda on the Internet continues to grow in sophistication and reach.

Their reference to terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda was limited to the attacks in Boston, London and Paris to “point to the persistent challenge of acts of expressive terrseveral terrorist bombings in Syria that left many victims and were claimed by Jabhat al-Nusra.