The Taliban has rejected the claim by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, of the Islamic State leadership’s presence in Afghanistan as a “false alarm”.
Amir-Abdollahian has recently claimed that the IS leaders and its experienced fighters have been moved from Iraq, Syria, and parts of Libya to Afghanistan in recent months. He said it was a matter of security concerns for Afghanistan and the region, including Iran.
The Taliban’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, denounced the allegations, asserting that the Taliban have tackled the ISIS threat.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has meticulously fought against Daesh both during and after the end of the occupation, neutralizing the destructive capability of the group,” Balkhi said in a series of tweets on Saturday.
“If Iran has any intelligence about the ISIS members moving to Afghanistan, we hope that it will share the same so that Afghan security forces can take necessary actions”.
Moreover, the Taliban’s spokesperson for MoFA slammed the Iranian Foreign Minister, alluding that Iran should deliver on their international obligations to secure their borders rather than “shifting responsibility to others.”
The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) estimates there are between 1,000 and 3,000 ISIS fighters in the country, posing a threat to the Taliban as well as civilians.
