RASC News Agency: The United Nations Security Council has once again raised alarm over the resurgence of terrorist threats in Afghanistan, stressing that alongside the growing activities of the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch (ISIS-K), the Taliban are actively harboring, collaborating with, and reinforcing dozens of regional terrorist organizations on Afghanistan’s soil. Council members emphasized that ISIS-K is aggressively recruiting from among disillusioned youth in Afghanistan and across Central Asia. According to Vladimir Voronkov, UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, who addressed the Council on Wednesday, August 20, ISIS continues to pose a grave threat not only to Afghanistan but to the wider Central Asian region and even Europe. He noted that the group is increasingly exploiting modern financial tools, including cryptocurrencies and encrypted digital networks, to fund its operations.
Natalia Gherman, head of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, further underscored that ISIS-K is not confined to Afghanistan’s territory but is simultaneously working to expand its influence and recruitment into neighboring states and parts of Europe. Yet, as permanent members of the Security Council warned, ISIS is only part of a larger, more insidious problem. UN reports confirm that under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has been transformed into a safe and well-structured sanctuary for foreign terrorist outfits. At least eight training camps directly linked to al-Qaeda are currently operating across multiple provinces, with the Taliban’s explicit protection.
Beyond al-Qaeda, other groups including Tajikistan’s Ansarullah, Pakistan’s Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Uyghur militant factions—are being openly sheltered and empowered by the Taliban. These groups have not only established secure compounds and training facilities in dozens of provinces, but are actively rebuilding their military and logistical networks in close coordination with Taliban commanders. The 35th report of the UN Monitoring Team on Sanctions explicitly confirms that the Taliban have granted these organizations permission to expand their infrastructure across Afghanistan. Multiple intelligence sources now point to the organized presence of dozens of extremist groups thriving under the Taliban’s protection.
Security and military analysts warn that this trajectory is rapidly turning Afghanistan into the epicenter of global terrorism, posing escalating threats not only to regional stability but to international security far beyond South and Central Asia. Far from countering extremist forces, the Taliban have positioned themselves as a central sponsor and enabler providing safe havens, resources, and political cover to the very networks they once claimed to oppose. In reality, despite the Taliban’s repeated rhetoric of counter-terrorism, their regime has become the backbone of transnational militancy, ensuring that Afghanistan remains synonymous not with peace and stability, but with a widening arc of extremist violence.
