GENEVA/WASHINGTON — A senior Chinese official said on Tuesday that there was a danger of Daesh (the so-called IS) militants re-emerging in Syria and called for progress in the political process between the Damascus government and the opposition to end the war.

"There is now a danger of terrorist organizations like ISIS being revived, we see some signs in some of the places," Chinese Special Envoy Xie Xiaoyan told reporters after talks with UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen in Geneva.

"So the fight against terrorism needs to be continued. They need to be finished," he added. "The international community should pay attention to the early warning."

China has long worried about ethnic Uighurs from China’s far western region of Xinjiang who have traveled clandestinely to Syria and Iraq to fight with militant groups there. Daesh has killed at least one Chinese hostage and militant groups have issued statements threatening to attack China.

In a separate development, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that Daesh remains a threat in Syria and Iraq, and in some areas has even gained power despite the elimination of their "caliphate",

"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 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.

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

Daesh 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 Daesh took credit for a suicide bombing of a wedding in Kabul that killed 63. — AFP