A Taliban fighter stands on a checkpoint at a well-liked market in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (AP Picture/Hussein Malla)
Al-Qaida's previous ties to the lately empowered Taliban have the potential of creating Afghanistan a protected haven for extremists, and "terrorist teams take pleasure in larger freedom there than at any time in current historical past," U.N. specialists stated in a report circulated Monday.
Within the wide-ranging report, the specialists additionally stated extremists linked to each al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are efficiently advancing in Africa, particularly within the turbulent Sahel. They usually stated the Islamic State continues to function "as an entrenched rural insurgency" in Iraq and Syria, the place its so-called caliphate dominated a big swathe of the 2 nations from 2014-2017 when it was defeated by Iraqi forces and a U.S.-led coalition.
In what it referred to as "a vivid spot" in Southeast Asia, the panel of specialists stated each Indonesia and the Philippines reported "important features" in disrupting Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated "terrorism" and "some optimism" that their operational functionality "could also be considerably degraded."
The report back to the U.N. Safety Council by the panel of specialists monitoring sanctions towards al-Qaida and the Islamic State, often known as IS and ISIL, referred to as the Taliban's return to energy on Aug. 15 amid the chaotic last withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years probably the most important occasion of the final six months of 2021.
The Taliban first dominated Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and have been ousted for harboring al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden for masterminding the 9/11 terrorist assaults within the U.S. in 2001. In a February 2020 deal that spelled out the phrases of the U.S. troop withdrawal, the Taliban had promised to combat terrorism and deny terrorist teams a protected haven in Afghanistan.
However the panel of specialists stated "there aren't any current indicators that the Taliban has taken steps to restrict the actions of international terrorist fighters within the nation." Quite the opposite, it stated, terrorist teams are having fun with "larger freedom," although member states "haven't reported important new actions of international terrorist fighters to Afghanistan."
The specialists famous that al-Qaida launched an announcement congratulating the Taliban on its victory on Aug. 31, however since then it has maintained "a strategic silence, doubtless an effort to not compromise Taliban efforts to realize worldwide recognition and legitimacy."
"Al-Qaida can also be persevering with to get better from a sequence of management losses and is assessed to lack the aptitude to conduct high-profile assaults abroad, which stays its long-term objective," the panel stated.
Al-Qaida's chief, Ayman al-Zawahri was reported alive in January 2021, it stated, "however member states proceed to imagine that he's ill."
The specialists famous that Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated safety for bin Laden, returned to his house in Afghanistan in late August. They usually stated an unnamed nation reported that bin Laden's son, Abdallah, visited in October for talks with the Taliban.
As for the Islamic State group, the panel stated whereas it controls restricted territory in Afghanistan, "it has demonstrated a seamless skill to mount subtle assaults, including to the complexity of the safety scenario in Afghanistan." For instance, it cited the advanced assault at Kabul airport on Aug. 27 by which greater than 180 folks have been killed.
Member states stated the Islamic State's energy in Afghanistan has risen from an estimated 2,200 to close 4,000 following the discharge of a number of thousand prisoners, in accordance with the panel, which stated one nation estimated that half have been international fighters.
The specialists stated the Taliban views ISIL "as its major kinetic risk," that seeks to be the "chief rejectionist power in Afghanistan with a wider regional agenda threatening neighboring Central and South Asian nations."
The report doesn't cowl final week's killing of the chief of the Islamic State, often known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in a U.S. raid in northwest Syria.
However the specialists stated that like al-Qaida, ISIL's management "faces difficulties." They pointed to al-Qurayshi's failure to point out himself within the final half of 2021 and Iraq's announcement on Oct. 11 that it captured Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, alias Hajji Hamid, who was accountable for ISIL funds and believed to be probably the most senior deputy and a attainable successor to the ISIL chief.
In its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the panel stated ISIL continues to resist "sustained counter-terror stress from forces within the area." It's estimated to retain between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters and is forming cells and coaching operatives to launch assaults, the specialists stated.
Each ISIL and al-Qaida proceed to make advances in Africa, particularly within the Sahel, the place the panel stated they've "efficiently exploited native grievances and weak governance to command rising numbers of followers and assets, however inner divisions and rivalries."
U.N. member nations stay "deeply involved" on the success of ISIL and al-Qaida associates in Africa over the past half of 2021, the specialists stated.
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