UNITED NATIONS: With violent extremists having suffered defeats in Syria and Iraq, the international community must step up cooperation to address the complex problem of foreign terrorist fighters returning home or travelling to other regions, the head of the United Nations Office against Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, warned the UN Security Council.

Some 5,600 fighters from 33 nations have returned home, many equipped to carry attacks out on their native soil, or drum up new recruits.

“Returning foreign terrorist fighters pose an enormous challenge with no easy solution,” Voronkov said

Voronkov told the council that at one time more than 40,000 combatants from over 110 countries had joined terrorist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq.

“The threat stemming from foreign terrorist fighters affects all member states, even those far away from the conflict zones,” he said, laying out the scale of the problem in a briefing to the council.

Noting that while travel measures implemented by countries and military victories against the militant Islamic State (IS) group have “significantly decrea­sed” flows to the region, combatants have since tried to relocate to Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan, fuelling existing conflicts in these countries.

Meanwhile, some 5,600 fighters from 33 nations have returned home, many equipped to carry attacks out on their native soil, or drum up new recruits.

“Returning foreign terrorist fighters pose an enormous challenge with no easy solution,” Voronkov continued.

“A tempting response, and certainly the easiest one, would to be throw all returnees into prison […] But full compliance with international law is vital to combat the threat of foreign terrorist fighters,” he stressed.

Speaking on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Commi­t­tee Executive Directorate, Executive Director Michÿle Coninsx strongly condemned the recent “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” in Egypt, and expressed her deepest condolences to the families of all victims of terror attacks.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2017