Despite a substantial reduction in the number of global attacks, the IS continues to evolve into a global covert network, a process that is more advanced in Iraq than in Syria, Dian Triansyah Djani, chair of the IS and al-Qaida sanctions committee, told the Security Council.

In Iraq, the IS has already started to organize cells at the provincial level and there is currently a net flow of IS fighters from Syria to reinforce the emerging network in Iraq, said Djani, the Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations.

"If the objective to survive and resurge in the core area is achieved, ISIL may be expected to revive its focus on external terrorist operations. But for now, the ISIL core lacks the strength to conduct coordinated international attacks," he said, using the initials of the name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Meanwhile, he said, al-Qaida remains active in many regions and there is a concomitant risk of al-Qaida growing stronger by taking advantage of the lull in IS strategic terrorist activities and staging a major attack of its own.

A sanctions monitoring team believes that there is a possibility that IS foreign terrorist fighters will choose to join al-Qaida affiliates in regions where the latter is the dominant brand, said the ambassador.