RASC News Agency: A senior official of the former Afghanistan government asserts that numerous terrorist organizations continue to operate under Taliban rule, with many having fought alongside the group against the previous government’s forces during the past two decades. Shah Mahmood Miakhil, the acting Defense Minister of the former Afghanistan administration, stated in an interview that the Taliban’s allied factions, active over the last two decades, are now thriving under their regime. He further remarked that the number of detainees in Taliban prisons today far exceeds the total incarcerated during the Republic era.
Miakhil explained that the Taliban’s wartime allies included groups such as Al-Qaeda, Central Asian Islamist movements like Ansarullah and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Chinese Uyghurs, and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to international reports, the Taliban have sustained their alliances with these factions. In response to reports of ISIS-K and Salafi elements infiltrating their ranks, the Taliban have reportedly begun internal purges. Miakhil revealed that thousands of Taliban fighters have been arrested as part of this crackdown.
He noted, however, that while the Taliban have maintained support for certain allied groups, they have expelled and detained numerous members accused of Salafi affiliations. “This underscores the infiltration of diverse factions within the Taliban, causing internal rifts that hinder their ability to prevent attacks,” Miakhil remarked. He emphasized that the Taliban’s current prison population significantly surpasses that of the Republic era, adding, “This phenomenon is neither unprecedented nor isolated.”
A Taliban prison official recently disclosed that approximately 20,000 individuals are currently incarcerated across Taliban-controlled facilities. This starkly contrasts with the events of August 15, 2021, when the fall of Kabul led to the mass release of prisoners, including hundreds of ISIS operatives who managed to escape. Even before ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the assassination of Khalil Haqqani, the Taliban had accused the group’s Khorasan branch of orchestrating the attack.
Global reports continue to confirm the presence of terrorist factions in Afghanistan, many of which are believed to enjoy the Taliban’s support. At Khalil Haqqani’s funeral in Paktia, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister pointed fingers at Pakistan, alleging that six out of seven ISIS attacks this year were planned in neighboring Pakistan. Taliban-linked media have similarly claimed that ISIS hubs are located in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
