Taliban’s Interior Ministry Spokesperson Rejects Presence of ISIS and TTP in Afghanistan

Abdul Matin Qane, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior of the Taliban, said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups are not present in Afghanistan. On Monday, Qane said that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan too.

However, Pakistan has repeatedly said that the Taliban has sheltered TTP members inside Afghanistan.

There are also reports that many Pakistani citizens from North Waziristan have been displaced to the various regions of Afghanistan. Pakistan's security officials said that the members of TTP have settled among the displaced people of North Waziristan in Afghanistan, and from there, these TTP members have been carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.

However, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior spokesperson denied the presence of members of TTP in Afghanistan and said that only refugees from Pakistan’s Waziristan tribal areas are present in Afghanistan.

Recently, there have been reports of an agreement which has been reached between the Taliban and Pakistan on the settlement of TTP fighters in northern and western Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council in a recent report stated that the relationship between the Taliban and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban and Al-Qaeda remains strong.

The UN report stressed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has been carrying out attacks in Pakistan with the support of the Afghan Taliban.

While the Taliban continues to deny the presence of foreign terror groups inside Afghanistan, these entities pose threats across Afghanistan's borders, and the Islamic State- Khorasan (IS-K) operations inside Afghanistan have been more complex and on the rise.

Meanwhile, the "Voice of Khorasan" magazine published by ISIS, warned the Taliban that the fighters of "Islamic State" are present across what the group termed as Khorasan and that the Taliban will face difficult days ahead.

In recent weeks, ISIS attacks on the Taliban have increased. Last week, two senior Taliban commanders were killed in two separate suicide attacks in Badakhshan province.