Taliban Confirms Suicide Attack In Kunduz, Casualties Reported

Addressing the UN Security Council, Voronkov stated that there are reports of foreign terrorists travelling to Afghanistan, raising concerns over the group’s growing influence.

The Russian UN official highlighted that ISIS-K supporters in Europe have also carried out attacks, demonstrating the group’s expanding operational reach beyond Afghanistan.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on terrorist threats to international peace and stability, Voronkov emphasised that ISIS continues to recruit fighters, particularly from Central Asian countries.

Despite efforts by the UN and its international and regional partners, he noted that ISIS remains active and operational.

During Monday’s session, Voronkov also referenced the situation in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, warning that the country’s ongoing instability could contribute to ISIS’s resurgence.

He pointed out that tens of thousands of ISIS members and their families are still held in camps in northwestern Syria, with 42,500 individuals affiliated with the group remaining in these detention centres and prisons.

According to Voronkov’s report, more than 700 Iraqi citizens, hundreds of Syrians, and 8,600 foreign nationals are detained in these camps and prisons.

He further stated that in Iraq, the repatriation process for ISIS detainees of various nationalities has slowed down, with only 760 individuals accepted by Iraq so far.

During the Security Council meeting, Voronkov reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s call for the “dignified” repatriation of citizens from Syrian camps and urged governments to facilitate their return.

ISIS’s Growing Threat Beyond Afghanistan

The UN official also highlighted the threat posed by ISIS activities in other parts of the world, particularly in West Africa.

He reported that ISIS has conducted numerous attacks on both military and civilian targets, including schools, with some incidents resulting in horrific casualties.

According to officials, smugglers attempted to conceal the drugs inside bundles of brooms in an effort to transport them into Uzbekistan.

On Monday, Uzbek media outlets, citing NSS officials, confirmed that hundreds of kilograms of hashish were discovered at the customs checkpoint in the Surkhandarya region, which borders Afghanistan.

Authorities stated that the smuggling attempt was thwarted and that investigations are currently underway.

According to the NSS report, a suspicious truck was intercepted while attempting to cross the border. The vehicle was carrying 13.5 tonnes of brooms, raising concerns among customs officials.

Upon inspection, Uzbek authorities discovered that the truck contained 180 bags and 22,500 individual brooms. Reports indicate that drugs had been hidden within nearly 3,000 broom bundles to evade detection.

Initial assessments by Uzbek officials estimate the black market value of the seized narcotics at over $16.5 million.

Authorities continue to investigate the origins of the shipment and the smuggling network behind the operation, as concerns grow over drug trafficking from Afghanistan into Central Asia.

Harrigan, a former senior commander in the U.S. Special Forces, spoke with a Daily Signal reporter on Sunday, 9 February, about the withdrawal from Afghanistan and its long-term implications.

Reflecting on the rapid fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, Harrigan cited this event as one of the primary reasons he decided to enter politics and run for Congress.

A close associate of Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser to Donald Trump, Harrigan warned that the U.S. military and political failure in Afghanistan has endangered American national security, particularly in the face of potential adversaries.

“Our politicians and military leaders have failed us. If we’re structurally so weak that we would lose Afghanistan the way that we lost it, we’re just inviting our adversaries to attack us,” he stated.

He further emphasised his commitment to preventing future conflicts, saying “I want to do everything I possibly can here in Washington to deter that next conflict, which I believe is very likely to happen.”

Harrigan also suggested that if Donald Trump had been President in recent years, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel would not have occurred.

The Biden administration has faced persistent criticism from Republican politicians and U.S. veterans regarding its handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for what he describes as an unsuccessful U.S. exit from Afghanistan. However, Biden has consistently defended his decision, arguing that ending the two-decade war was necessary.

According to the statement, each of the accused received 39 lashes and was sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to three and a half years.

The Taliban court confirmed that the punishments were carried out on Monday in Jaghori district of Ghazni province and Khas Uruzgan district.

As per the ruling, two individuals received three and a half years’ imprisonment, another was sentenced to one and a half years, while the remaining person received a one-year prison term.

The Taliban described the public flogging as part of the implementation of “Islamic Sharia law.”

Since returning to power, the group has routinely carried out public punishments across Afghanistan, including floggings, amputations, and executions, often drawing international condemnation from human rights organisations.

In a letter addressed to the U.S. Secretaries of State, Homeland Security, and Defense, the coalition highlighted the urgent need to relocate Afghan allies, many of whom worked alongside U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan.

According to Reuters, Shawn VanDiver, head of the AfghanEvac coalition, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warning that failing to relocate Afghan allies could undermine trust in the United States and weaken local support for U.S. forces in future conflicts.

In the letter, VanDiver argued that not exempting Afghan refugees from Trump’s order would send a dangerous message to adversaries such as ISIS, suggesting that the United States abandons its allies in times of need.

A copy of the letter was also sent to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a veteran of the Afghanistan war, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

VanDiver urged senior members of Trump’s cabinet to allow Afghan refugees to be resettled, despite the broader suspension of refugee admissions.

On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order halting the U.S. refugee admissions programme, effectively freezing the resettlement of thousands of displaced individuals, including Afghans awaiting relocation.

According to the AfghanEvac coalition, approximately 3,000 Afghan refugees remain stranded in camps in Qatar and Albania, while an estimated 50,000 others are stuck in Pakistan and other countries, awaiting approval to enter the United States.

Despite the ongoing suspension, Trump granted an exemption last Friday allowing a group of white South African refugees to be relocated to the United States, a decision that has sparked debate over the prioritisation of refugee resettlement policies.