World News | ISIL, UN-designated Terror Groups Continue to Target Civilian, Military Objects, Says Amb Tirumurti Recalling 2019 Pulwama, Sri Lanka Terror Attacks

United Nations, Feb 14 (PTI) Recalling the terror attacks in Pulwama and Sri Lanka in early 2019, Chair of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Ambassador T S Tirumurti on Monday said ISIL, Al Qaida and UN-designated terrorist groups and individuals operating "within the territory of a country and across the border" continue to target civilian and military objects.

Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, delivered remarks in his capacity as Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee to the open briefing of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) with the Member States of South and South-East Asia.

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He recalled that the Committee had held an informal meeting on community engagement to counter terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism in South and South-East Asia in June 2018.

“It is unfortunate that during the period that followed the informal meeting, terrorist threat to the countries of the sub-regions remained high. ISIL, Al Qaida and the UN-designated terrorist groups and individuals operating within the territory of a country and across the border, continue to target civilian as well as military objects,” Tirumurti said in his opening remarks as Chair.

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The briefing took place three years to the day of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed.

In making his statement, which was as per consensus of all the 15 UN Security Council members that make up the Committee, Tirumurti recalled the Pulwama Terror attack as well as the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.

“For instance, Sri Lanka experienced a series of attacks in April 2019. Three luxury hotels in Colombo were attacked by suicide bombers and three churches in different cities were attacked during Easter service. On 14 February 2019, today three years ago, a convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked in a suicide attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed,” Tirumurti said.

After his opening remarks as CTC Chair, Tirumurti in his national capacity as India's Permanent Representative to the UN, paid homage to the victims of the “most dastardly terror attacks carried out exactly three years ago on 14th February 2019 in India by Jaish-e-Mohammed in a suicide attack.”

He said that since its formation in 2015, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) carried out numerous attacks against churches in Indonesia, including the suicide attack on March 28, 2021 on a Church in Makasar. The Abu Sayyaf Group attacked worshipers attending mass at a Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the Philippines, in January 2019.

He also said that on March 26, 2020, ISIL- Khorasan attacked a Sikh Temple in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing more than 25 people of Sikh faith. More recently, on August 2021, the ISIL-Khorasan organised a suicide attack on Kabul International Airport, which resulted in the death and injuries of dozens of civilians, including children, and military personnel.

Tirumurti underlined that the briefing provides an opportunity to hear from Member States, particularly those from the South and South-East Asia region, as to how do they perceive the terrorist threat spectrum, what has been their experience, best practices in combating terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, as well as in implementing the Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions, including resolution 1373, and 1624.

The UNSC resolution 1373 was unanimously adopted on September 28, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This landmark document established the basis of the Security Council's future response to the terrorist threat. Resolution 1373 (2001) also established the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) as a subsidiary body of the Council, mandated to assess Member States' compliance with the resolution's provision. The Security Council, meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government in September 2005, adopted resolution 1624, which addresses the threat posed by incitement to commit terrorist acts.

Among the objectives of the proposed open briefing is to facilitate discussion of the current and evolving threat of terrorism in South and South-East Asia, especially in light of evolving situation in Afghanistan, close ties between Taliban, largely the Haqqani Network, Al-Qaida and foreign terrorist fighters in the region, and growing influence of ISIL-K, the UN said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)