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‘No indicators of the Taliban taking steps to restrict the actions of overseas terrorist fighters within the nation’.
Al-Qaida’s previous ties to the just lately empowered Taliban have the potential of constructing Afghanistan a secure haven for extremists, and “terrorist teams take pleasure in larger freedom there than at any time in latest historical past,” U.N. specialists stated in a report circulated Monday, February 7, 2022.
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. And so they stated the Islamic State continues to function “as an entrenched rural insurgency” in Iraq and Syria, the place its so-called caliphate dominated a major swathe of the 2 nations from 2014-2017 when it was defeated by Iraqi forces and a U.S.-led coalition.
In what it known as “a shiny spot” in Southeast Asia, the panel of specialists stated each Indonesia and the Philippines reported “important good points” 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 in opposition to al-Qaida and the Islamic State, also called IS and ISIL, known as the Taliban’s return to energy on Aug. 15 amid the chaotic final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years essentially the most important occasion of the final six months of 2021.
The Taliban first dominated Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and had 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 battle terrorism and deny terrorist teams a secure haven in Afghanistan.
However the panel of specialists stated “there aren’t any latest indicators that the Taliban has taken steps to restrict the actions of overseas 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 overseas terrorist fighters to Afghanistan.” The specialists famous that al-Qaida launched a press release congratulating the Taliban on its victory on Aug. 31, however since then it has maintained “a strategic silence, probably an effort to not compromise Taliban efforts to achieve worldwide recognition and legitimacy.” “Al-Qaida can also be persevering with to recuperate from a collection 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 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri was reported alive in January 2021, it stated, “however member states proceed to imagine that he’s unwell.” The specialists famous that Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated safety for bin Laden, returned to his dwelling in Afghanistan in late August. And so they 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 unbroken skill to mount refined assaults, including to the complexity of the safety scenario in Afghanistan.” For example, it cited the advanced assault at Kabul airport on Aug. 27 during which greater than 180 individuals had 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, based on the panel, which stated one nation estimated that half had been overseas fighters.
The specialists stated the Taliban views ISIL “as its major kinetic risk,” that seeks to be the “chief rejectionist pressure 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 indicate 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 answerable for ISIL funds and believed to be essentially 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 sources, however inside 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. (AP) ANB ANB
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