Disrupt ISIS Operations Before It is Too Late, Says US Senator

Al-Miraaad argued that ISIS only attacks countries opposed to the West.

On Monday, the publication published an article claiming that the ISIS Khorasan fighters who carried out attacks in Afghanistan and Russia were Tajik citizens.

Tajikistan has denied the involvement of its citizens in the Moscow attack, and its president, in a conversation with the Russian president, stated, "Terrorists do not belong to any specific country or religion."

Four suspects of the attack appeared in a Russian court on Sunday with injuries, identifying themselves as Tajik nationals.

The Taliban condemned the "terrorist attack" by ISIS in Russia, suggesting the group operates under "intelligence organisations" for "defaming Islam and creating threats in the region”.

The Taliban-linked intelligence media outlet continued, stating, "Tajikistan's intelligence acts as an intelligence unit of a Western country, aiming to export ISIS terrorism in Tajik packages to the region."

Al-Mirsaad highlighted that ISIS aims to harm the Eastern bloc, citing ISIS attacks on the Russian embassy and Chinese citizens in Kabul and a missile attack on Uzbekistan as evidence.

Russia and Iran often accuse the United States of supporting ISIS to create instability in the Middle East and Central Asia, a view the Taliban seems to share.

Citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have joined ISIS more than those from other regional countries. ISIS threats against Bashar al-Assad's regime drew Iran and Russia into the conflict in Syria, linking their heavy military and economic presence there to ISIS attacks.

After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian and Central Asian officials repeatedly expressed concerns about the presence of foreign militant groups in Afghanistan. Some of these terrorist organisations maintain close relations with the Taliban, which has refused to expel foreign militants from Afghanistan.

A senior military official of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, comprising Russia and several Central Asian countries, had said in February that the presence of ISIS fighters and the Pakistani Taliban near the Tajik-Afghan border has increased.

Al-Mirsaad, citing Taliban security agencies' information, claims that "Tajikistan's intelligence has transferred some Afghans to Tajikistan and uses them for other purposes in the region."

ISIS attacks in Afghanistan and Russia have raised global concerns. Two prominent US senators have warned of the expansion of ISIS attacks as a danger signal for America and Europe.

Following recent ISIS attacks, some European countries, including Italy and France, have sought to elevate their security measures to the highest level. While Western and regional countries express concern about the ISIS threat in Afghanistan, the Taliban has repeatedly responded by claiming that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan and poses no threat to the security of regional and Western countries.

Zadran added that in this incident two kidnappers were killed, and one fled the area.

He stated that the Taliban officials are searching for the fugitive but did not explain why the kidnappers initially shot at the Taliban personnel.

The group has also released photos showing the bloody bodies of these two men.

According to Dawn newspaper, approximately one million Afghan migrants, holders of ACC cards or temporary residence permits, will be expelled from the country.

Dawn, quoting a Pakistani official, mentioned that instructions for expediting the mapping of the residences of temporary residence cardholders have been dispatched to local offices.

Abed Majid, the senior secretary for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, stated, "We have already started the mapping process. This will accelerate after Ramadan, with its completion hopefully by April 30 of this year."

Another official, quoted by Dawn, expressed uncertainty about when the second phase of Afghan migrants’ expulsion will start, but suggested that it could commence at the beginning of summer, following federal government approval.

UN Refugee Agency statistics show that 2.18 million Afghan migrants reside in Pakistan.

This includes 1.3 million refugees holding a "POR" card or permanent residence from the UN Refugee Agency and another 880,000 refugees who received temporary residence permits after registering in 2017.

Pakistani authorities reported that between six hundred to eight hundred thousand people arrived in Pakistan following the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, and are now facing an uncertain future.

In November of the previous year, Pakistan announced the expulsion of 1.7 million undocumented migrants. Pakistani media estimated that about half a million migrants have since returned to Afghanistan.

This action contradicts Hekmatyar's claim that he occupied these spaces under an agreement with Afghanistan's former government.

Issued by Taliban’s leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and executed by Minister of Justice Abdul Hakim Sharei, the eviction highlights a stark property dispute.

Despite denials of a siege on Hekmatyar's Kabul home from close sources to the Hezb-e-Islami leader, there's confirmation that Hekmatyar will relocate.

The disagreement centres on the land's ownership, with the Taliban alleging it belongs to their Ministry of Defence. Habib-ur-Rahman Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin’s son, clarified that while his father's residence is not under siege, a relocation is imminent.

He noted that discussions with the Taliban concluded that the peace agreement with Ashraf Ghani's government is now void, leaving the Darul Aman residence as the only remnant of that accord.

This eviction follows a Taliban directive from October 2022, led by Abdul Hakim Sharei, to reclaim encroached lands. Notably, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced in November 2023 that deliberations over 26.5 acres assigned temporarily to Hekmatyar in Darul Aman had concluded, though details remain undisclosed.

Hekmatyar, initially supportive of the Taliban's return, has increasingly criticised their governance, particularly the harsh policies towards women and girls. His outspoken stance on the non-compulsory nature of certain dress codes as per Islamic texts and the right for Afghans to choose their political system have been pivotal points of contention.

These critiques, culminating in the temporary cessation of his Friday sermons in February 2023, underscore the tension between Hekmatyar and the Taliban.

Despite halting his public addresses under pressure, Hekmatyar has persisted in vocalising his disagreements with the Taliban.

Cotton attributed this situation to the "failed policy of withdrawal from Afghanistan”.

ISIS-K attacked a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow on March 23, resulting in over 130 deaths.

Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, voiced his "serious concerns" about the potential of ISIS to attack American citizens, describing it as a "significant threat”.

On Fox News, Cotton stated, "It is deeply regrettable that innocent people, women, and children, were killed in Moscow, but the next attack could target US embassies in Asia and Europe or our students on a field trip to Europe."

He added that this situation reflects the dangerous fallout after Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida also linked potential ISIS attacks on American soil to the way the US exited Afghanistan.

On ABC television, he said that [ISIS-K] has regrouped and stressed that they had warned that this might happen with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Rubio continued that one reason they didn't want this hasty withdrawal was that it would give [ISIS] the operational space to reorganise and plan attacks on targets abroad.

Senator Rubio added that ISIS managed to carry out terrorist attacks in Iran and Russia, and "they will do it in America too”.

He called on the Biden administration to strengthen US border security to prevent terrorists from entering the country and prevent an incident similar to Moscow from happening in America.