Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 8 April 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.    

FB-ISAO Releases April Newsletter

The latest edition of the FB-ISAO Newsletter has been published. ICYMI, the newsletter features the most recent threat level statement that was released on 31 March. Both the physical threat level and the cyber threat level remain “Elevated”. There is also a section focused on the importance of monitoring your organization’s online presence, which was a focus of the Weekly Advisory from 19 March. The newsletter also features upcoming

ISIS in 2025: The Resurging Threat 

The threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to grow as the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 has reported that the terror conglomerate has expanded its operations now to 22 countries, causing 1,805 deaths in 2024, with Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo accounting for 71 per cent of its attacks last year. A 2024 UN report estimated that ISIS, despite recent setbacks, still commanded up to 6,000 fighters in Afghanistan, about 3,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq, and 2,000 to 3,000 fighters in the West African states of Mali, Burkina Faso and the Niger.

Analyst Comments: US experts have previously warned that ISIS has the ability to re-emerge as a potent terrorist threat within a year or two without US presence in Syria. The ISIS threat may have been depleted in recent years, but the threat of the transnational Salafi jihadist group remains a dangerously persistent and evolving security challenge. While lone actors inspired by ISIS ideology have demonstrated an ability to carry out attacks, the group’s influence and ability to plan coordinated attacks will only grow as formal structures reemerge.