UN Security Council to Hold Meeting on ISIS Threat in Afghanistan and the Region
The United Nations Security Council is set to hold a meeting on Monday, 10 February to discuss the threat posed by ISIS in Afghanistan and the broader region.
The Taliban has dismissed concerns about the capabilities and presence of ISIS-K (Khorasan branch) in Afghanistan, calling them baseless.
According to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, ISIS is not a significant force that could create problems in Afghanistan, and he accused some countries of exaggerating the threat posed by the group.
However, in the past three and a half years of Taliban rule, ISIS-K has been considered the primary security threat to the Taliban government, carrying out numerous deadly attacks in Afghanistan.
The council is expected to consider a new report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the presence and threats posed by ISIS in Iraq, Syria and other countries, including Afghanistan.
The UN Security Council said it had “decided that two UN officials brief the members of the meeting on the ongoing threats posed by ISIS.”
The UN Secretary-General’s new report, released on January 31, said that despite regional countries targeting the financial resources of ISIS-K, the group continues to operate.
According to the report, ISIS currently has access to “significant cash reserves,” and according to the UN, the group’s cash reserves in Iraq and Syria alone are estimated to be around $10 million.
The UN Secretary-General described ISIS-K as a serious threat not only to Afghanistan but also to some countries in the region, including Iraq and Syria.
UN Secretary-General Guterres also referred to the recent suicide attack in Kabul that killed the Taliban’s acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs, Khalilur Rahman Haqqani.
The report said that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which may have been intended to undermine the Taliban’s claims to have defeated the group and undermine its ability to provide security for the entire country in Afghanistan.
Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, stated during the UN Security Council meeting on the threat of terrorism that the activities of the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations in Afghanistan are a “serious concern.”
Vladimir Voronkov stated that ISIS-K has strengthened its financial and logistical capabilities over the past six months by leveraging support from individuals in Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
However, the Taliban government has consistently claimed that their security forces have dismantled ISIS-K bases in the country and weakened the group’s ability to threaten national and regional security.
The upcoming United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on the ISIS-K threat will be attended by Vladimir Voronkov, head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, and Natalia Gherman, Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee.
