The major anti-terror operation has resulted in the apprehension of a mid-level Al Qaeda commander identified as Abu al-Qaqa….reports Asian Lite News
Yemen’s government army said that it has launched a major military operation targeting hideouts ofAl Qaeda terrorists in the country’s southern province of Abyan.
The operation’s primary focus is on the province’s Mudiyah district, where numerous Al Qaeda terrorists have sought refuge in distant valleys and mountainous terrain, Xinhua news agency quoted the government army as saying in an official statement.
The large-scale anti-terror operation has already led to the capture of a mid-level Al Qaeda commander named Abu al-Qaqa, it added.
“The government troops have successfully taken up positions at the entrance to the Wadi Omran area and in villages that have seen terrorist attacks on security forces blamed on the Al Qaeda,” a military official told Xinhuaty.
The military campaign comes as Yemen continues to grapple with violence and instability stemming from a years-long civil war between Houthi rebels and the internationally recognised government.
On August 5, two soldiers of Yemen’s government forces were killed and six others injured when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle near the entrance of the Mudiyah district.
Abyan and other neighboring southern provinces have seen an increase in violence between Yemeni government forces and Al Qaeda militants in recent months.’
The report, compiled by a UN committee that monitors terrorist activities across the globe, endorsed Pakistan’s complaint that the banned TTP has increased its influence in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover
According to a report submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), banned outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) might seek a merger with Al Qaeda to create an umbrella organisation that incorporates all militant groups operating in South Asia, reported Dawn.
“Some UN member states registered concern that TTP might provide an umbrella under which a range of foreign groups operate, or even coalesce, avoiding attempts at control by the Taliban,” the report said. The report, compiled by a UN committee that monitors terrorist activities across the globe, endorsed Pakistan’s complaint that the banned TTP has increased its influence in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, the Pakistan media outlet reported.
The report further warned, “One member state noted the possibility of Al Qaeda and TTP merging. It assessed Al Qaeda to be providing guidance to TTP for conducting increased attacks within Pakistan.”
However, Kabul rejected UNSC report claiming Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan. According to the document, training camps run by various terrorist groups in Afghanistan’s Kunar province are being used by fighters of the banned TTP as well.
“Since the reunification with several splinter groups, and emboldened by the Taliban take over in Afghanistan, TTP has aspired to re-establish control of territory in Pakistan.,” the report added.
The report further said that the TTP does not control territory. “TTP capability is assessed as not matching its ambition, given that it does not control territory and lacks popular appeal in the tribal areas,” the report said.
The UN committee reported that in June, certain elements of the banned TTP were relocated away from the border area, as part of the Taliban’s efforts to rein in the group under pressure from the government of Pakistan, reported Dawn.
Furthermore, the UN committee submitted its report to the Security Council on July 25, highlighting how the banned TTP was gaining momentum in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban took control in August 2021.
It also emphasized on how other terrorist groups were using the TTP cover to operate in the war-torn country., reported Dawn.
“The distinctions between members of Al Qaeda and affiliated groups, including TTP, and [IS-K] are at times blurred at the edges, with individuals sometimes identifying with more than one group and a tendency for people to gravitate towards the dominant or ascending power,” the report noted.
The report added, “There is growing reporting that other sanctioned terrorist groups are using support to TTP as a means to evade control by the Afghan Taliban.”
According to Dawn, the UN committee noted that relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda remains close and symbiotic. Mostly, Al Qaeda “operates covertly in Afghanistan to help promote the narrative that the Taliban comply with agreements not to use Afghan soil for terrorist purposes.”
Under the patronage of high-ranking officials of the de facto Taliban authorities, “Al Qaeda members infiltrate law enforcement agencies and public administration bodies, ensuring the security of Al Qaeda cells dispersed throughout the country”. (ANI)
The Al Qaeda core in Afghanistan remains stable at 30 to 60 members, while its fighters are estimated to be 400, reaching 2,000 with family members and supporters included…reports Asian Lite News
Terror group Al Qaeda is “shaping” its regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent to spread its operations into Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a UN report.
The 32nd report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the 1267 Daesh and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, released this week, noted that “one Member State assessed that Al-Qaida is shaping AQIS (Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent) to spread its operations into neighbouring Bangladesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Myanmar”.
“That Member State also noted that certain limited elements of AQIS are ready to either join or collaborate with ISIL-K (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan),” it said.
The Al Qaeda core in Afghanistan remains stable at 30 to 60 members, while its fighters are estimated to be 400, reaching 2,000 with family members and supporters included, in the country.
In the Indian Subcontinent, the Al Qaeda has approximately 200 fighters, with Osama Mehmood being the emir.
Some member states assessed Sayf al-Adl as most likely to succeed Aiman al-Zawahiri as Al Qaeda chief and is reportedly still in Iran, the report said.
The member state assessed ISIL-K as the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan and the wider region, benefiting from increased operational capabilities inside Afghanistan.
ISIL-K is estimated to have 4,000 to 6,000 members, including family members.
Sanaullah Ghafari is viewed as the most ambitious leader of ISIL-K and while one member state reported that Ghafari was killed in Afghanistan in June, the report noted that this remains to be confirmed.
“ISIL-K is becoming more sophisticated in its attacks against both the Taliban and international targets. The group was focused on carrying out a strategy of high-profile attacks to undermine the Taliban’s ability to provide security,” it said.
“Overall, ISIL-K attacks demonstrated strong operational capability involving reconnoitre, coordination, communication, planning and execution. Furthermore, attacks against high-profile Taliban figures in Balkh, Badakhshan and Baghlan provinces raised ISIL-K morale and boosted recruitment,” the report said.
The report further said that Afghanistan remained a place of global significance for terrorism, with approximately 20 terrorist groups operating in the country. One member state assessed that the goal of those terrorist groups is to spread their respective influence across the regions and to build theocratic quasi-state entities.
“The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close and symbiotic. For the most part, Al-Qaida operates covertly in Afghanistan to help promote the narrative that the Taliban comply with agreements not to use Afghan soil for terrorist purposes,” the report said.
“Under the patronage of high-ranking officials of the de-facto Taliban authorities, Al-Qaida members infiltrate law enforcement agencies and public administration bodies, ensuring the security of Al-Qaida cells dispersed throughout the country,” it said.
Noting that Al Qaeda’s capability to conduct large-scale terror attacks remains reduced while its intent remains firm, it said, “The group uses Afghanistan as an ideological and logistical hub to mobilise and recruit new fighters while covertly rebuilding its external operations capability”.
It noted that Al Qaeda is in a “reorganisation” phase, establishing new training centres in Kunar and Nuristan provinces. Member states assessed that the terror group would likely remain dormant in the short term while developing its operational capability and outreach.
Al Qaeda leaders are seeking to strengthen cooperation with regional terrorist groups of non-Afghan origin located in Afghanistan, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, ETIM/TIP (The East Turkestan Islamic Movement/ Turkestan Islamic Party) and Jamaat Ansarullah, intending to infiltrate and establish strongholds in countries in Central Asia.
“One Member State assessed that the mid-to-long-term prospects of Al-Qaida depend on the overall situation in Afghanistan. Should Afghanistan descend into chaos and insecurity, the base for Al-Qaida would likely strengthen. Should the country achieve stability, Al-Qaida would likely seek to shift the core to other theatres, such as Yemen or North Africa,” it said.
According to the report, the member states expressed concern that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) could become a regional threat if it continues to have a safe operating base in Afghanistan.
Some member states also registered concern that the TTP might provide an umbrella under which a range of foreign groups operate or even coalesce, avoiding attempts at control by the Taliban.
“One Member State noted the possibility of AQIS and TTP merging. It assessed AQIS to be providing guidance to TTP for conducting increased attacks within Pakistan. It was also reported that ETIM/TIP training camps in Kunar Province were being used for TTP fighters.”
Al-Zawahiri was killed by two Hellfire missiles fired at him from a CIA-run drone while he was on the balcony of a house in Kabul where he had been staying with his family…reports YASHWANT RAJ
The US killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend dealing the terrorist group a major blow, confirms President Joe Biden.
Al-Zawahiri had overseen the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001, that killed 2,977 people, along with Osama bin-Laden, who was killed by the US in 2011 in Pakistan.
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian by birth who had trained to be a medical doctor, had a US reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture. The US holds him responsible also for the bombing of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and on its naval ship USS Cole in 2000.
He also had a long history of baiting and threatening India. Last April, he praised an Indian student who stood up against efforts to prevent Muslim women from wearing hijab. The next month, in May, he called the abrogation of Article 370 a “slam” for Muslims.
Al-Zawahiri was killed by two Hellfire missiles fired at him from a CIA-run drone while he was on the balcony of a house in Kabul where he had been staying with his family. No members of his family or other civilians were wounded or killed in the strike, according to US officials who briefed reporters.
President Biden said in an address to the nation, and perhaps the world, that US intelligence had tracked the Al Qaeda leader to Afghanistan early in the year and he gave the go ahead to the operation to kill al-Zawahiri a week ago on July 25. Officials said Biden reviewed a model of the house early in July to make sure there were no collateral casualties.
“Our intelligence community located Zawahiri earlier this year,” Biden, who is dealing with “rebound positivity” of Covid-19, said in his address.
“He had moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family. After carefully considering clear and convincing evidence of his location, I authorised a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield once and for all.”
Biden added: “This mission was carefully planned, rigorously minimising the risk of harm to other civilians. And one week ago, after being advised the conditions were optimal, I gave the final approval to go get him and the mission was a success.”
The US studied Zawahiri’s behaviour and that of his family members for weeks — the women in the family took circuitous routes from and to home to avoid trackers, for instance — to reduce the possibility of hitting others.
The strike came around a year after the US left Afghanistan, which raised questions about its ability to carry out counter-terrorism operation there. The Biden administration had sought to allay such concerns and fears saying it will retain “over-the-horizon” capability from neighbouring countries.
Al-Zawahiri’s most spectacular operations were against the US, but he had India in his crosshairs as well. In April, he came out in support of Muskan Khan, an Indian muslim student who stood up to those trying to prevent Muslim women from wearing hijab to educational institutions.
“May Allah reward her for showing a moral lesson to sisters plagued by an inferiority complex via-a-vis the decadent Western world,” al-Zawahiri said in a video released in April.
A month later in May, he opposed the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which ascribed special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“When the Hindu government of India took the infamous decision to annex Kashmir, it was the slap on the faces of the governments ruling over Muslim lands,” he said in a video.
He added: “The decision was taken with full confidence in the support that India enjoys from international criminals and the ineptitude of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, the de facto rulers of Pakistan.”
Al Qaeda leadership resides in Af-Pak region, reveals UN report
The report estimated that an approximate presence of “180 to 400 fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda” from “Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan” are settled in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News
A UN report has claimed that the relationship between the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda remains close, with the latter “renewing its pledge of allegiance to Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada”, the supreme leader of the Taliban.
The report by the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team assessed the presence of the Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) terror groups in Afghanistan, reports TOLO News.
“Member State assessments thus far suggest that Al Qaeda has a safe haven under the Taliban and increased freedom of action. Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued more frequent recorded messages since August, and there is now proof of life for him as recently as February 2022,” the report said.
Al-Zawahiri has been the leader of Al Qaeda since 2011, succeeding the terror group’s former leader Osama bin Laden following his death.
The report estimated that an approximate presence of “180 to 400 fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda” from “Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan” are settled in Afghanistan’s “Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Paktika and Zabul provinces”
The Taliban government in Afghanistan has not yet reacted to the report yet.
Al Qaeda leadership resides in Af-Pak region, reveals UN report
But Kurilla’s claim has been rejected by the Taliban government in Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News
A top US official has claimed that the Al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) terror groups were “reconstituting” in Afghanistan.
Gen. Michael Michael Erik Kurilla, the nominee to head the US Central Command (CENTCOM), made the remarks while addressing the Senate Armed Services Committee, TOLO News reported.
“One of the challenges is the threat to the homeland from Al Qaeda and IS-K (Khorasan). They are reconstituting. The Taliban has not renounced Al Qaeda. IS-K, with the release of the prisoners both from the Bagram prison and Pul-e-Charkhi are in a process of reconstituting,” he said.
CENTCOM’s main headquarters is based in the US but has established a forward headquarters in Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
But Kurilla’s claim has been rejected by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
In a statement on Wednesday, Taliban deputy spokesperson Billal Karimi, said: “The allegations and propaganda that are being spread- there is no evidence or documentation. We hope instead of spreading propaganda and allegations without evidence, the world will come forward and engage and cooperate with the Islamic Emirate.”
Kurilla’s comments come after a report by the UN Security Council Monitoring Team said that the presence of foreign terror groups have increased in the war-torn nation after the collapse of the former administration in August last year.
The report also questioned the Taliban’s commitment under the 2020 Doha Agreement to preventing “international terrorist” threats from having a foothold in Afghanistan and expressed concerns that foreign groups might find safe haven in Afghanistan.
Security officials have been analyzing the Al Qaeda statement which was quite worrisome not only for India but also in many parts of central Asia..reports Asian Lite News
The intelligence agencies apprehend that Al Qaeda’s recent statement on global jihad that included Kashmir, was made on the behest of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
A day after the last contingent of the US army left Afghanistan in the intervening night of August 30-31, the Al Qaeda issued a statement in which it called for “a global jihad to liberate Islamic lands” including Kashmir.
Congratulating the Taliban for taking full control of the country after the US exit, the Al-Qaeda said, “Liberate the Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir and the rest of the Islamic lands from the clutches of the enemies of Islam. O’ Allah! Grant freedom to Muslim prisoners across the world.”
The inclusion of Kashmir was quite alarming as it was never on the agenda of the Taliban in the past, the sources said, adding that this will boost the morale of terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen based in Pakistan.
Officials in the security agencies have been analyzing the Al Qaeda statement which was quite worrisome not only for India but also in many parts of central Asia and Pakistan, the sources said.
That the statement did not mention Chechnya in Russia and China’s Xinjiang among targets of “liberation” through jihad was quite significant and that also indicated Pakistan’s hand behind the statement, they added.
Despite the fact that Indian security forces are on high alert on the border with Pakistan and also fully prepared to deal with any situation in Jammu and Kashmir even if the ultras get Taliban captured US weapons, this has created a worrisome situation, a senior official in the security forces said.
Al-Qaeda militant(WIKIPEDIA)
The government has also taken this matter seriously and the officials of the Union Home Ministry have discussed the situation threadbare with all stakeholders.
“There has been indication that Pakistan based terror outfits like Lashkar-e Taiba, and Jaishe-e Mohammad have stepped up their efforts to push their ultras into Jammu and Kashmir soon after the Taliban took over Afghanistan”, the official added.
According to him, the launch pads in Pakistan have been humming with activity near the border indicating an increase in planning for infiltration. These launch pads were abandoned after a ceasefire was announced in February this year and as per the latest input, over 300 terrorists have again occupied these camps across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
With the Taliban returning to Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda or a similar global jihadi movement would not be far behind.,” said Canadian think tank….reports Asian Lite News
If Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan, other terrorist organisations including Al-Qaeda will not be far behind to take on the mantle of the next global jihadist group or leader, said a Canada-based think tank.
In its report, International Forum For Right And Security (IFFRAS) said: “With the Taliban returning to Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda or a similar global jihadi movement would not be far behind. There may not be a Osama bin Laden or a Mullah Omar but there are countless others who are too eager to take on the mantle of the next global jihadist leader, most likely enjoying the patronage of Pakistan at present, waiting in the wings for the Taliban to come to power in Kabul.”
IFFRAS further noted that the international community must own the responsibility for letting the Taliban become a monster again.
“The US and other countries, engaged in keeping the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan, since October 2001, were warned by friendly countries of Pakistan’s deceit in keeping the flames of terror alive while pretending to help the international forces in stemming terrorism. It was a big deceit played by Pakistan and accepted into by the international community. It was the discovery and killing of Osama bin Laden inside a military garrison town in Pakistan that opened the eyes of the world to Pakistan’s treachery. Yet no attention was paid to Pakistan’s continuous support of the Taliban, transforming a militant force that had been razed to the ground, to rise again,” the think tank said.
IFFRAS also said that if the Taliban comes to power once again then the sacrifices of thousands of people and security personnel would have gone to waste.
“It must not be allowed to happen, or the deaths of thousands of people and sacrifices of thousands of security personnel would have gone waste,” it said adding that the world will be back into the throes of a new global jihadi campaign, more brutal and devastating than the past.
The Pak-sponsored Taliban has always acted as the vanguard of global jihad. It was so before 2001 and it is so even today as it runs through Afghanistan, capturing cities, holding communities hostage to its diktat and undoing decades of nation-building from the ashes of a ravaging war, IFFRAS further said.
The recent intensification of a conflict with the Afghan Government, the Taliban continues to violate human rights unabatedly by killing civilians, destroying mosques and assaulting women.
After capturing new areas in Afghanistan, the Taliban has re-imposed repressive laws and retrograde policies on Afghan women that defined its 1996-2001 rule when they enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law.
Terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are active in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces in Eastern Afghanistan and Helmand and Kandahar provinces particularly in the southeast of the country, the IFFRAS had asserted earlier report. (ANI)
Report says militant outfit operates under Taliban protection from Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces
Al Qaeda is present in at least 15 Afghan provinces, primarily in the eastern, southern and southeastern regions, says a United Nations report prepared for the Security Council.
The twenty-eighth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, submitted to the council this week, contains the latest information on ISIL (Daesh), Al Qaeda and their affiliates, the Dawn reported.
The team has been established under a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution and its reports are printed in all official languages of the world body.
The report notes that despite a US-Taliban peace deal, signed in Doha in February last year, the security situation in Afghanistan “remains fragile, with uncertainty surrounding the peace process and a risk of further deterioration”.
Report says militant outfit operates under Taliban protection from Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces
Referring to the militant group’s weekly newsletter Thabat, the UN report points out that Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operates under Taliban protection from Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces.
Since the death of its leader Asim Umar in 2019, AQIS has been led by Osama Mahmood, who is not listed in UN documents for terrorists but was the group’s spokesperson before he was elevated to the chief slot.
Asim Umar was originally from India and spent years in Miramshah, a former militant stronghold in erstwhile Fata, before moving to Afghanistan.
The UN report says that AQIS consists mainly of Afghan and Pakistani nationals, but also individuals from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. On March 30, AQIS commander Dawlat Bek Tajiki was also killed by Afghan forces in Gyan district of Paktika province.
The UN report notes that Ayman al-Zawahiri, who leads AQIS’s parent organisation Al Qaeda, is assessed by UN member states to be alive but ailing in Afghanistan. Sayf al-Adl, his most likely successor, reportedly remains in Iran.
“Member states differ as to what al-Adl’s options would be if he was called upon to succeed al-Zawahiri, but most assess that he would have to move and that basing himself in Afghanistan might not be an option,” the report adds.
In its report on Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, the UN team warns that TTP “continues to pose a threat to the region with the unification of splinter groups and increasing cross-border attacks”.
“TTP has increased its financial resources from extortion, smuggling and taxes. According to one member state, Mufti Khalid, one of the leaders of TTP, was killed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in an internal dispute over resource allocation in Kunar province, Afghanistan, in May,” the report adds.
“The threat from organised individuals planning complex attacks remains,” warns the UN report, adding that in February this year 14 people were arrested in Denmark and Germany for planning attacks with explosive chemicals.
Authorities in France arrested individuals of Chechen and Pakistani origin with profiles like the individuals who had perpetrated or planned attacks in France last year. They were not found to be acting under direct orders from ISIL or Al Qaeda
leadership, but were inspired by propaganda and local community members who promoted radical ideology. Two cells consisting of individuals of Chechen origin were dismantled in eastern France in April and May this year.
The team writes that in its efforts to resurge, ISIL-K has prioritised the recruitment and training of new supporters and its leaders “hope to attract intransigent Taliban and other militants” who reject the US-Taliban agreement. They also want to recruit fighters from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones.
Estimates of the strength of ISIL-K range widely, with one UN member state reporting between 500 and 1,500 fighters and another stating that it may rise to as many as 10,000 over the medium term. Another member state stressed that ISIL-K was largely underground and clandestine. Its leader Shahab al-Muhajir cooperates with Sheikh Tamim, head of the al-Sadiq office. Tamim and his office are tasked by the ISIL core with overseeing the network connecting ISIL-K with ISIL presences in the wider region.
The UN monitors warn that a Central Asian group called Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari (KIB) receives financial support in Afghanistan through hawala channels from its leadership in Idlib. This incentivises the Afghan affiliate to grow its numbers and undertake more high-profile attacks using suicide bombers. KIB leader Dilshod Dekhanov, an Uzbek national, recently requested that the Taliban leadership unite all Central Asian groups in Afghanistan under his leadership.
Other Central Asian groups, such as Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, stated that they would support unification only under the leadership of Ilimbek Mamatov, the leader of Islamic Jihad Group (IJG) who enjoys significant authority among Central Asian fighters.
“The Taliban have yet to rule on the matter but has reduced its financial allowances to the groups to a level that they consider insufficient,” the UN report says.
In recent months, however, the Taliban have involved the Central Asian groups in its expanding combat operations in the north. IJG participates in operations in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province, providing expertise in military tactics and manufacture of improvised explosive devices.
The report titled ‘Pakistani Jihadis and Global Jihad’ released on June 18 focuses on the historical and recent links of Pakistani terror groups with transnational terror groups…reports Asian Lite News
The synergies between regional terrorist groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and the international groups is a matter of concern as per a report by Centre d’analyse du terrorisme (CAT).
The report titled ‘Pakistani Jihadis and Global Jihad’ released on June 18 focuses on the historical and recent links of Pakistani terror groups with transnational terror groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The expanding global focus of the regional groups whether Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is visible from their public statements on international developments, said the report.
There is increasing radicalisation in Pakistan that would provide these groups a ready ground for recruiting youth.
Al-Qaeda militant(WIKIPEDIA)
Moreover, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is likely to witness a resurgence of the Taliban and greater coordination between Pakistan-supported groups like the LeT, JeM and the Taliban.
The report also notes that breaking the political and financial links between Pakistan and local jihadi organisations, some working under the guise of providing social and educational services to the people, is the key to weakening the reach and threat of these organisations.
Meanwhile, Counterterror watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has criticized Pakistan’s inaction against proscribed terror outfits that continue to function under different names.
Pakistan’s prosecution of designated terror groups has remained the primary stumbling block since the country’s return to the grey list in 2018.
Earlier, a United Nations report revealed that significant part of the Al-Qaeda leadership resides in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, including the group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is “probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda.”
The findings on the status of Taliban-controlled and contested districts were presented last week by the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.
The 18 member states report said that large numbers of Al-Qaeda fighters and other foreign extremist elements aligned with the Taliban are located in various parts of Afghanistan.
This comes as foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan and plan to leave completely by September 11.
According to the UN report, ties between the two groups remain close, based on ideological alignment, relationships forged through common struggle and intermarriage. The Taliban has begun to tighten its control over Al-Qaeda by gathering information on foreign terrorist fighters and registering and restricting them.
The group’s leader, Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri, is believed to be located somewhere in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Previous reports of his death due to ill health have not been confirmed. “One Member State reports that he is probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda.”
According to the UN report, Al-Qaeda, including Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, is reported to number in the range of several dozen to 500 persons. Al-Qaeda core’s membership is of non-Afghan origin, consisting mainly of nationals from North Africa and the Middle East.
Although the member states assess that formal communication between senior Al-Qaeda and Taliban officials is currently infrequent, one member state reported that there is regular communication between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda on issues related to the peace process.
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent operates under the Taliban umbrella from Kandahar, Helmand (notably Baramcha) and Nimruz Provinces. The group reportedly consists of primarily Afghan and Pakistani nationals, but also individuals from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, the report added. (ANI)
