The latest quarterly report by UN Secretary-General António Guterres states that attacks carried out by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan have decreased in both number and scale.
According to the report, Taliban forces have continued operations against ISKP in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.
A UN official provided Afghanistan International journalist Maryam Rahmati with a copy of the Secretary-General’s report, which details the situation in Afghanistan over the past three months.
The report noted that on 26 May, a Taliban attack on a Salafi cleric in Shuhada district, Badakhshan, killed the cleric and his guard. On 14 June, unidentified assailants shot dead a Shia imam in Nusai district, Badakhshan, decapitated him and left an ISKP flag at the scene. It further stated that on 15 June, ISKP fighters targeted Taliban forces in Dara-e-Noor district of Nangarhar, and on 8 July, armed clashes between the two groups broke out in Alingar district, Laghman province.
57 Threats and Attacks Against UN Staff
The Secretary-General reported that over the past three months, 57 security incidents and threats against UN staff were recorded.
According to the report, dozens of female UN employees received death threats from unidentified individuals in May alone. The UN said these threats forced it to adopt temporary security measures. The Taliban has denied responsibility for the threats, and the perpetrators have not yet been identified.
Five Anti-Taliban Fronts Claim Attacks
Guterres stated that five armed groups claimed responsibility for 47 anti-Taliban attacks in the past quarter. These included the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the National Resistance Front, the Afghanistan Liberation Movement, the People’s Sovereignty Front and the National Mobilisation Front.
Of these, the UN was able to independently verify 19 incidents.
Over 2,600 Security Incidents in Three Months
Guterres reported that between 1 May and 31 July 2025, a total of 2,658 security incidents were recorded in Afghanistan.
According to the report, insecurity in Afghanistan has risen by 9 percent compared with last year.
The Secretary-General’s quarterly report was prepared under UN General Assembly Resolution 79/317 (2025) and UN Security Council Resolution 2777 (2025), which mandate him to submit regular updates on the situation in Afghanistan and on the implementation of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).