Two months after the US forces left the territory of Afghanistan, a large number of their ‘abandoned’ spies and allies have joined hands with the radical Islamist outfit ISIS, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). ISIS is now the only threat to the incumbent Taliban government in Afghanistan.
WSJ cited Taliban leaders to claim that the number of such US allies, defecting to ISIS, is growing each day. Reportedly, the defectors are providing warfare techniques and intelligence gathering expertise to the ISIS terrorists and thereby strengthening them to overthrow the Taliban government. Following the departure of the US forces, the Talibs raided the houses of Afghans who had worked for the US regime. Fearing threats to their lives, many had joined the regional affiliate of ISIS, the Islamic State-Khorasan Province.
Citing a former Afghan national army official, WSJ reported that several men from the Afghan Republic’s Intelligence and Military also have joined the ISIS-K in recent weeks. He added that an army officer was killed in the past week while fighting the Talibs. Ex-head of the National Directorate of Security, Rahmatullah Nabil, informed, “In some areas, ISIS has become very attractive. If there were a resistance, they (former Afghan security and defence forces) would have joined the resistance. For the time being, ISIS is the only other armed group.”
ISIS-K lures unemployed Afghan officials to the Islamist outfit to fight Taliban
One of the grim realities facing Afghanistan is that hundreds of thousands of ex-soldiers, former police officials and Afghan Republic Intelligence officers are unemployed. Despite being assured of amnesty, they fear threats to their lives. Reportedly, many of these ex-officials who worked in the National Directorate of Security, have resumed work under the Taliban government, But they have not been paid their wages for months. In order to lure such unemployed personnel to ISIS-K, the Islamic State terrorists are providing them with large sums of money and assurance of security against the Taliban regime.
The Talibs continue to blame the United States and Afghanistan’s Intelligence Service for the creation of ISIS-K. However, such claims have already been dismissed by both the US government and the former Kabul government. Although both Islamic State-Khorasan Province and Taliban are radical Islamist outfits, the former follow Salafi Islam while the latter adhere to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. ISIS-K, which had become weak following a Taliban offensive in 2015, re-emerged after the withdrawal of US forces and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
Taliban unwilling to accept ISIS as a major threat
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Intelligence has begun providing information to the Talibs about the Islamic State. However, the Taliban is reluctant to consider the ISIS-K as a major threat. While speaking about the matter, senior Taliban leader Mawlawi Zubair remarked, “We are not faced with a threat nor are we worried about them. There is no need, not even a tiny need, for us to seek assistance from anyone against ISIS.” He further added, “In the current situation, we are not dealing with a few difficulties, we are facing many. If we get rid of all our economic and administrative problems, ISIS will disappear in 15 days in all of Afghanistan.”
US forces left behind biometric data of Afghan allies
After Kabul fell at the hands of the Taliban, it came to light that the United States had left its allies in Afghanistan vulnerable to attack by the radical Islamist outfit. As per an exclusive report by Politico, the Biden administration had handed out a list of American citizens, Afghan allies, and green card holders to the Taliban so as to allow their evacuation from the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul. Despite being well aware that the Taliban has a history of killing US allies, the decision to provide specific names to the Islamist outfit by the Biden administration had put their life in jeopardy.
Not just the lists, the Taliban reportedly also have biometric data of all Afghans who had worked with US and NATO forces. After the capture of Afghanistan, a large number of biometric devices, along with weapons, vehicles, and ammunition left behind by American and fleeing Afghan forces were captured by the Taliban. With the US-built military devices, the Taliban now potentially have the access to the biometric database of Afghans. Politico had reported how the Taliban was going door-to-door in search of Afghan interpreters and US allies, after the Biden administration ‘outsourced’ the security to the Taliban.
