The Islamic State group remains a threat in Syria and Iraq, and in some areas has even gained power despite the elimination of their "caliphate", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.

"There are places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago," Pompeo said on CBS's "This Morning" show.

"But the caliphate is gone in their capacity to conduct external attacks, it's been made much more difficult," he said.

"We've taken down significant risk. Not all of it, but a significant amount. We're very pleased with the work that we've done."

US President Donald Trump declared early this year that US-led forces in Syria and Iraq had achieved "100 percent victory" over the Islamic extremist group after a campaign to eliminate their redoubt in the Euphrates river valley in Syria.

But many fighters are believed to have melded into the population, and the group maintains small strong holds in remote locations in Iraq.

A report by the Pentagon's Inspector General earlier this month said IS is transitioning "from a territory-holding force to an insurgency in Syria," and has firmed up its insurgent capabilities in Iraq.

The US drawdown or reassignment of some security forces in the region has left some room for the group to rebuild, the report said.

The Islamic State has "established 'resurgent cells' in Syria and sought to expand its command and control nodes in Iraq," it said.

IS has also become a potent threat in Afghanistan, where it acts independent of the Taliban, which is currently negotiating a peace deal with the United States.

On Saturday the IS took credit for a suicide bombing of a wedding in Kabul that killed 63.

China warns on IS revival in Syria
Geneva (AFP) Aug 20, 2019 - China's Syria envoy said Tuesday that "terrorist organisations" including the Islamic State group are being revived in the war-ravaged country, urging the international community not to ignore the "early warning" signs.

Xie Xiaoyan, Beijing's pointman for the Syrian conflict, made the comments after meeting in Geneva with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen.

"There is now a danger of terrorist organisations like ISIS being revived," Xie told reporters, using another acronym for IS.

"The international community should pay attention."

IS overran large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" there, but offensives in both countries reclaimed the territory.

Xie's Geneva visit came as concern mounts over a possible major offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Idlib, a jihadist-run area in the northwest which is the last major opposition stronghold in Syria.

The UN has warned that an assault on Idlib could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.

Idlib has for several years served as a reception zone for those escaping government advances elsewhere in the country, who now number in their hundreds of thousands.

Today they have nowhere to run in case of a full assault on Idlib.

Asked about Beijing's position on a prospective of such an assault and the humanitarian fallout, Xie described the issue as "very complicated".

"We all know that this is the last stronghold of some of the terrorist organisations... so this is an issue that needs to be dealt with," he said.

"The fight against terrorism is not finished yet."

Since January, Idlib has been administered by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is led by jihadists from Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

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