RASC News Agency: The Taliban claim to have attacked an ISIS hideout in Kabul’s fifth district, arresting several members of the group. Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Kabul, stated on Saturday that ISIS members were planning attacks during Muharram. In a late-night post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, July 23, Zadran said that during the operation, a number of ISIS fighters were apprehended, and significant amounts of explosives, weapons, and ammunition were seized.
Al-Mersad, a media outlet affiliated with the Taliban, detailed the Taliban intelligence operation in Kabul. This announcement comes amid the Taliban’s own obstruction of Muharram ceremonies, during which they killed a boy in Herat. The Taliban have labeled Muharram ceremonies as foreign innovations and imposed severe restrictions on mourners. This appears to be a strategic ploy by the Taliban.
Al-Mersad reported that on Wednesday, July 10, Taliban special forces raided an ISIS hideout in Kabul’s fifth district, arresting several members of a significant ISIS network and seizing large quantities of explosives, weapons, and ammunition. Al-Mersad noted that the leader of this hideout is an Afghan who had lived in a neighboring country. He was recruited by the ISIS-Khorasan branch, headquartered in Balochistan, and sent to Afghanistan.
According to Al-Mersad, this man first married a Pakistani woman and then was sent to Afghanistan after training. Among those arrested were the perpetrators of an attack on a Shiite vehicle in the Kote Sangi area of Kabul a few months ago, a crime often attributed to the Taliban. Al-Mersad further reported that they obtained a list of religious scholars, professors, prominent anti-government figures, and Pakistani politicians that ISIS intended to assassinate, some of whom they had already targeted.
The Taliban-affiliated media outlet added that the network also had a list of targets in Afghanistan and a neighboring country. This news comes as the UN Security Council’s latest report highlights the expanding influence of ISIS in Afghanistan and its penetration into Central Asian countries. The UN Security Council noted that ISIS has infiltrated the Taliban’s Ministries of Defense, Interior, and Intelligence.
According to the report, ISIS is quietly intensifying its recruitment efforts. The world views the Taliban as terrorists. The people of Afghanistan are exasperated, facing daily killings without evidence or reason. The Taliban’s announcement of a special operation against ISIS comes amid their own accusations of attacking Muharram ceremonies.
