Two Islamic State suspects, one of whom was in possession of a British passport, were arrested by Taliban as they tried to enter Afghanistan last fall via the northern border, the Guardian said.
The men, carrying more than £ 10,000, military fatigue and nightgowns in their pockets, were arrested after a tip-off from Uzbekistan, according to a Taliban source close to the operation.
“There was one passport in England and another in Europe,” the source said. He spoke of the abduction of the men at the Hairatan border on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
An Uzbek source said both men were using British passports during a flight to Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent – it was unclear if anyone had a European passport to use on the Afghan border, or whether the Taliban source was confused – and both had. Afghan Heritage.
Their departure was a strong reminder that although the West has managed to end its war in Afghanistan by withdrawing troops, there is no simple solution to the security threat posed by international terrorist groups fleeing within its borders.
Hundreds of British people will live under Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but this is the first time that UK citizens have been caught trying to join a party in Afghanistan, with the first reported case of attempting international recruitment to IS since the Taliban took power. in the world.
Two French nationals reportedly left Central Asia to join Islamic State in Afghanistan a few years ago, and another was banned in 2017 by Tajik authorities, and was jailed for five years.
The Islamic State embassy in Afghanistan – known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISK), after the region’s historic name – is funded and encouraged.
We have carried out mass suicide attacks in Kabul and other major cities since the Taliban took power last year, and now they are present in every province in Afghanistan, a UN official said in November.
ISK is one of the few remaining options for westerners drawn to violent extremism in the name of Islam as the Syrian civil war has been reduced to a bloodbath in the corner of the country.
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“One of the reasons people are heading to Afghanistan is that they have nowhere to go. Probably the most likely place for jihadists to seek war, ”said Ashley Jackson, an Afghan militant expert and author of the Negotiating Survival, on the relationship between civilians and Taliban insurgents.
Last week US special forces carried out an unusual offensive in northwestern Syria that assassinated Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. Dangerous military operations make it clear that Washington still sees the group as a major threat to the world.
An Uzbek source has confirmed that local authorities have alerted the two men to Afghan authorities for investigation because they have raised concerns about intelligence but have not violated any Uzbek laws – the country has visa entry permits for UK passport holders – and were not on the wanted list. Interpol. .
“As for the visas, they were all organized,” he said. “We could not stop them from entering because they are English. We could not stop them from continuing because they had Afghan visas. “
They told border guards that they had family ties with Jalalabad, the capital of the eastern province of Nararhar, and initially said they were visiting relatives, a Taliban source said. Yet they find it difficult to explain their responsibilities.
Along with money and military exhaustion, they were full of combat vests that the source described as “suicide vests without explosives”. When questioned, the men allegedly said these were just “fun” things.
They flew into Tashkent and then traveled 430 miles (700 km) to the border crossing, a Uzbek source said. It is thought that they must have collected at least some of the weapons of war on the road.
Although the flight to Islamabad could have provided a much shorter trip to eastern Afghanistan, currently the main ISK base in Afghanistan, these men would need a visa to enter Pakistan if they were traveling with UK passports.
The Guardian saw photos of the men taken shortly after arriving in Afghanistan. Their appearance is similar to the descriptions of two Taliban members accused of links to Islamic State, Afghan sources said.
The resumption of Islamic State
The attacks of 9/11 in 2001 drew US troops and their supporters to Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban because they had given al-Qaida a safe haven. Thousands of lives and billions of dollars later, the Taliban regained power, and although al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is dead, his legacy continues.
British and US intelligence officials have warned even before the Taliban take over Kabul that the terrorist threat from Afghanistan is likely to increase with the ruling party, while western powers’ surveillance is rapidly declining.
The Taliban have promised Washington, in an agreement that paved the way for US withdrawal, to provide a safe haven for international terrorist groups. But it was an obligation beyond their ability to maintain, even if they wanted to.
Islamic State and the Taliban have been fighting since the group first appeared in the region in 2015, drawing troops from other extremist groups. It has been thwarted by the combined efforts of the US government, the Afghan government and the Taliban forces until 2019 but has since rebuilt. It gained momentum during the break-up of prisons organized by the Taliban in the last days of the republic, which returned between 2,000 3,000 and 3,000 XNUMX fighters on the battlefield, according to a recent report on the group’s resumption.
They include a man suspected of carrying out a bloody attack on Kabul airport in the last days of international departure last August. More than 400 foreign fighters, from across Asia and beyond, including a handful of Jordan and the Maldives, reported the report.
“I am very afraid that the Taliban is taking the anti-terrorism challenge lightly as a government,” Jackson said. “They did very well in the fight against Islamic State when they fought against the opposition, but it is very different from the ruling state.
“It is not in the Taliban’s interest that these groups work, but we should not underestimate their arrogance and incompetence. They have no money, power, border protection resources, inspection and response teams. ”
The recent Islamic State suicide bombings have been a demonstration of their achievements, including those directed at the Taliban leadership in a family funeral service, as well as more in the city of Kandahar, where the party has deep roots and strong support.
Abdul Sayed, an Afghan extremist commentator and co-author of the ISK report, said: “It was a demonstration of the power to make the first of its kind attacks on Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold, a message. If we strike here, we can strike anywhere in the country.”
At the moment, their main focus is on the home and the region. While some Westerners may try to find their way to the group, they are not guided.
“I do not think the ISK will invite or host foreign fighters at least until they have a strong position under their control. Supporting foreign fighters is costly and a crime for them, ”said Sayed. “They say they have international ambitions, but I have never seen any direct threat from their propaganda material against the west or any western countries. They are currently mostly targeted at the provinces.”
They employ a large number of people in Afghanistan, from extremist Taliban who are disillusioned with strict education, from poor Taliban militants demanding salaries that the government cannot afford, and even former government groups that feel they need protection from the Taliban genocide.
In response the Taliban have resorted to sophisticated tactics, which reportedly include the illegal killing of young men in the strongest parts of the east. The two British men, taken to the Mazar-e-Sharif regional capital from the border, may have suffered similar treatment.
“The mujahideen know a lot about Daesh and work hard on this issue,” said a Taliban source, when asked how the men would be treated. He had no preconceived notions about their future, but the general policy for IS prisoners was clear, he added. “The rules from our leader are just to get rid of them, not to let them do anything. There is no mercy. ”
Afghanistan has a long history of human rights abuses by all parties in its long-running conflict, which is aimed at ending opposition. They often have the opposite effect, driving employment in angry and losing communities, and if the Islamic State in Afghanistan becomes stronger, it will not be the only Taliban concern.