ISIL-K has threatened to launch terrorist attacks against the embassies of India, Iran and China. Afghanistan A UN report claimed that with the aim of weakening relations between the Taliban and neighboring countries.
This was revealed in a report published on Monday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the threats posed by ISIL.
“The activities of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) remain a significant terrorist threat in Central and South Asia, and the group retains ambitions to conduct external operations,” the Secretary-General’s 16th Report on ISIL ( The extent of UN efforts in support of Member States in countering threats and threats to international peace and security posed by Daesh).
The Security Council will hold a meeting on Thursday on ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’, during which Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, will present the report released last week.
The report said that ISIL-K had established itself as the “primary opponent” of the Taliban and was reportedly set out to portray the Taliban as incapable of providing security in the country.
“Its main goal is to portray the Taliban as incapable of providing security to the country. By targeting diplomatic missions, ISIL-K seeks to undermine relations between the Taliban and neighboring countries.
“The group also threatened to launch terrorist attacks against Chinese embassies, India and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan,” it added.
The report also stated that ISIL-K’s current strength was between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters, of whom about 200 were of Central Asian origin. It states that the number could be as high as 6,000.
In June last year, India resumed its diplomatic presence in Kabul by deploying a technical team at its embassy in the Afghan capital, 10 months after withdrawing its officials from the mission after the Taliban seized power.
The embassy was reopened after an Indian team led by senior foreign ministry official JP Singh visited Kabul and met acting foreign minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaki and some other members of the Taliban establishment.
The report further said that the attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul in September last year was the first attack against any diplomatic presence in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
In December, ISIL-K claimed attacks against Pakistan’s embassy and a hotel frequented by Chinese nationals.
“In addition to high-profile attacks, ISIL-K carried out near-daily attacks targeting Shiite minorities, which also served to undermine the Taliban’s authority and challenge their nascent security agencies,” the report said.
The report added that ISIL-K media organization Voice of Khorasan issued propaganda in Pashto, Farsi, Tajik, Uzbek and Russian with the goal of recruiting from ethnic groups in the region to strengthen the group’s capabilities.
It added that a UN member state noted cooperation between the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement and ISIL-K, although historically the former has aligned itself with al-Qaeda.
Depending on the member state, such cooperation includes jointly published Uyghur-language propaganda posters, personnel exchanges, and military advice and planned joint operations, such as East Turkestan Islamic Movement members fighting Islamic State operations in Iraq. Sending to join the unit and Levant-Khorasan is responsible for tracking Chinese citizens and carrying out attacks.
In July last year, the two groups allegedly conspired to buy weapons and carry out terrorist attacks against Chinese targets in Afghanistan. A UN member state said in the report that the Syrian branch of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement actively recruited Chinese citizens from Daesh in the Syrian Arab Republic.
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