ISIS has overtaken al-Qaeda as leader of the global violent extremist movement and has access to a large pool of potential recruits in Western countries, U.S. national counterterrorism center chief Nick Rasmussen said on Thursday. In congressional testimony, Rasmussen also said counterterrorism experts still regard al-Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate AQAP as big threat due to its interest in attacking the United States and airplanes. In addition, FBI chief James Comey said U.S. investigators are aware of dozens of U.S.-based Islamic militant suspects who now are using encrypted communications.
