The former US Special Representative for Afghanistan has said that Pakistan has established training camps for ISIS members who were previously defeated in Afghanistan due to the Islamic Emirate’s actions and later fled to Pakistan, and that they are now being used against Afghanistan.
Zalmay Khalilzad told Indian television channel NDTV that Islamabad’s policy is complex. He said that when US forces were present in Afghanistan, Pakistan both provided them with supply routes and at the same time sheltered individuals who were fighting against the United States and NATO.
Khalilzad added:
“The Taliban and ISIS were fighting each other even when our forces were in Afghanistan. Now that the Taliban have taken power, they have intensified their actions against ISIS, and as a result, a large number of ISIS members have fled to Pakistan. Pakistan, however, has opened camps for these ISIS members and is using them against Afghanistan.”
Khalilzad’s remarks came after some members of the UN Security Council expressed concern late last week over the presence and activities of ISIS in Afghanistan.
Representatives of the United States, China, and Pakistan said during the Security Council meeting that the group is active in Afghanistan and poses a threat to the region and the world.
The Islamic Emirate, however, once again strongly rejected these claims, calling them an exploitation by certain countries of Afghanistan’s absence from the Security Council to spread propaganda about the situation in the country.
Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Shamshad Television that ISIS is outside Afghanistan and that the international community should look for the group in neighboring countries, though he did not name any specific country.
Mujahid said:
“Unfortunately, Afghanistan does not have a presence in UN meetings. Some countries and circles spread negative propaganda and provide incorrect information there, which naturally affects the atmosphere of the meetings. The reality is that Afghanistan is secure, stable, has strong security forces, and its entire territory is under control. There are no rogue groups here, and the ISIS phenomenon has been eliminated from Afghanistan’s geography. Unfortunately, however, the group is being sheltered and supported in some neighboring countries.”
At the same time, some observers say the ongoing insecurity in Pakistan is a product of Islamabad’s own policies and that Pakistan is trying to isolate Afghanistan in the region through such actions.
While some analysts also point fingers at the Western world, they say it is well known that all active terrorist groups in the region receive support from Pakistan.
Political analyst Torialai Zazai said:
“We feel threatened by Pakistan. This country is a haven for ISIS and al-Qaeda. The insecurity currently taking place in Pakistan itself is being orchestrated by the Pakistani government and military to shift the blame onto Afghanistan and impose sanctions on it. The greatest injustice is committed by the world’s countries; they clearly see that ISIS is in Pakistan and that the al-Qaeda leader was killed there, yet they show no reaction.”
Other analysts praise the Islamic Emirate’s fight against ISIS, saying that even before returning to power, it had taken serious measures against the group and had managed to gain some international support for this effort, though previous governments failed to defeat ISIS.
Political analyst Akhtar Mohammad Rasikh said:
“The Islamic Emirate waged such a fight against ISIS that no one else had done since the emergence of this phenomenon in the region. The republic was not fully successful in suppressing ISIS, but now the Islamic Emirate has succeeded in this area and deserves praise.”
Many observers believe Pakistan is exploiting Afghanistan’s absence from international forums and attempting to present Afghanistan’s situation in a way that suits Islamabad. They recommend that the Islamic Emirate should convince the United Nations to at least allow Afghan representatives to be present in international discussions on Afghanistan so that a true picture of the situation can be presented.
