GERMANY - Islamic State is far from defeated, and instead is morphing into an asymmetrical warfare force after the militant group lost almost all of the territory it once controlled in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. Merkel's remarks at the inauguration of the Berlin headquarters of Germany's foreign intelligence agency BND contradicted statements by US President Donald Trump that the Islamist group has been defeated. "The so-called Islamic State has been luckily driven out of its territory but this unfortunately doesn't mean that Islamic State has disappeared," Merkel said. "It is transforming into an asymmetrical warfare force. And this, of course, is a threat." The conservative chancellor said monitoring events in Syria was one of the BND's top priorities, which also include tracking cyber threats and fake news designed to influence democratic elections.