KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban continue to host and shelter members of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, claiming they are not actively engaging in terrorism, according to the US Department of State.
In its 2023 Country Report on Terrorism, released on Thursday, December 12, the department stated that the Taliban also allowed members of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to remain active on Afghan soil.
According to the report, while the Taliban continued its pursuit of and operations against ISKP, an affiliate of Islamic State, in 2023, the group remains active and poses a threat to both the Taliban and religious minorities.
“The Taliban publicly and in private discussions with the United States reiterated its counterterrorism commitment under the 2020 U.S.-Taliban Agreement (Doha Agreement). However, al-Qa’ida, ISIS-K, TTP, and other terrorist groups remained present in Afghanistan,” part of the report reads.
The report highlighted several high-profile terrorist incidents in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan during 2023, including the ISKP attack on a Shia mosque in northern Balkh province in April, the killing of the Taliban governor for Badakhshan in June, and an IED attack near the Taliban Ministry of Justice in August.
The Taliban authorities have repeatedly denied the presence of terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan and any ties with them. However, numerous reports, including those from the UN and the US, have suggested otherwise, indicating that Al-Qaeda has maintained a close relationship with the Taliban, infiltrated Taliban institutions, established training camps, and is actively recruiting fighters across the country.
The UN Security Council reported last year that Al-Qaeda uses Afghanistan as an ideological and logistical hub to recruit new fighters and “covertly rebuild its external operations capability.”
According to the report, Al-Qaeda operates training camps in 10 provinces of Afghanistan and runs madrasas, or religious schools, in the eastern region of the country.
The UN report also highlights the relationship between the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban, noting that TTP previously assisted the Taliban in their conflict against the former Afghan government and Western troops. Some Taliban members now view sheltering and supporting TTP and their fight against the Pakistani government as a religious obligation.
The Taliban also claims to have significantly dismantled ISKP, asserting that the group poses no threat to Afghanistan or other countries. However, the terror group continues to target Taliban members and religious minorities in Afghanistan. Most recently, ISKP claimed responsibility for a deadly attack inside the Taliban Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, killing the Taliban minister and a senior member of the Haqqani network, Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani.
In his latest report on Afghanistan, released on Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres documented six ISKP attacks between August and October, including two targeting the Hazara-Shia community in Kabul and Ghor provinces.
