Some 3,000 Daesh Fighters Remain in Syria - Russian Envoy to UN

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia estimates that some 3,000 individuals with links to the Daesh terror group and its affiliates still remain in Syria, but there are other terrorist groups operating in the country, Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gennady Kuzmin said on Tuesday.

"Presently, the overall number of Islamic State[Daesh] members and their affiliates in Syria amounts to approximately 3,000 people", Kuzmin told a UN Security Council meeting. "Furthermore in Syria, there is a multitude of other terrorist groups that are present, the most combat-ready of which is still Jabhat al Nusra".

Kuzmin said that the ground in Syria remains fertile for further destabilization an announcement of a coalition draw-down.

The Islamic State had seized huge territories in Syria and Iraq in 2014 and created the so-called Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.

The organization has also claimed responsibility for a number of terror attacks across the world.

By March 2019, Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, retook all the territories occupied by the Daesh terrorists. However, the terror group is still present in Iraq and Syria and continues to stage sporadic attacks.

*Daesh (IS, Islamic State, ISIL, ISIS), Jabhat al Nusra are terrorist groups banned in Russia and many other states.