Taliban authorities have said they have sent letter to the groups of police chiefs across 34 provinces in Afghanistan and warned about “suicide attacks” by the Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh terrorist group.
The letter and the recent Daesh deadly bombing that targeted top Taliban officials in Badakhshan province, has spotlighted security lapses in the Taliban administration and the Daesh’s capacity to launch high-impact attacks across Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s ministry of interior said that Daesh will carry out attacks against governors, police chiefs and other civilian population like tribal elders, who support the current Afghan government under the Taliban leadership.
A Taliban interior ministry spokesman has confirmed that they have sent letters to the police stations in all provinces, but he restrained to provide more details.
In the letter, the ministry has cautioned Taliban officials and said that Daesh wants to conduct suicide bombing and hand grenade attacks to target governors and police chiefs. The letter also said that Daesh will not even stop throwing hand grenades to the residences of the officials as well as in their offices.
Daesh members came from abroad
This comes when the interior ministry had recently also warned that a group of people wants to enter Afghanistan from Pakistan and called them members and supporters of Daesh. However, no more information was given, but this came when Pakistan forcefully departed a large number of Afghans last week and many of them entered Afghanistan after 10 and 15 years.
“We doubt that some people among the refugees are members of Daesh, and we are careful about this,” said an official.
The Daesh threat in Afghanistan is now becoming more immense, the official told Harici on condition of anonymity. He furthered that Daesh is a foreign project, and accused the western countries for supporting this outfit. “Daesh was not in Afghanistan, but after 2014, they started appearing. At that time when the Taliban were struggling and engaged in the fight against foreign invaders, we saw Daesh as foreign project and fought against them in several provinces as well,” he added.
In the past, Taliban had downplayed the threat from Daesh, but now considers it a major menace than any other armed opposition groups in Afghanistan. Daesh has proved capable of killing more Taliban officials last year and also this year 2023.
Daesh is carrying more attacks
Recently, the Daesh group claimed responsibility for killing the Badakhshan governor, and this is yet another top level target after the Daesh killed the governor for Balkh province inside his office.
A Taliban official in the interior ministry said that the intelligence department has been in alert mode after recently Daesh claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a memorial service in Badakhshan that killed at least 13 people and wounded 30 others.
But he refuted the Daesh claim that at least 20 senior Taliban officials died and 50 others were injured in the bombing. But the spokesman confirmed that the Taliban security leadership is worried about an increase in Daesh attacks.
Meanwhile, a report suggests that a number of Afghan refugees who departed from Pakistan were members of Daesh. “Among the returnees from Pakistan in the last two weeks, there are some people who reportedly have connections with Daesh. The intelligence report says there are over 40 Daesh members,” said an official. “We are working to recognize these people, and detain them,” he said.
Daesh first appeared in 2014 in Afghanistan
Daesh for the first time emerged in Afghanistan was in 2014, where the then Afghan government and foreign troops downplayed their presence. However, after some months, Daesh carried out several deadly attacks across Afghanistan in general, but in Kabul, the capital city in particular.
“Daesh were hell-bent on killing Shite minority, and had targeted several places and institutions belonging to that sect, but this is no any longer the target,” a political expert Ahmad Jawad told Harici.
Jawad said that Daesh is now targeting everyone, including top Taliban leaders among them governors, police chiefs, and religious figures.
Yet again, Daesh carried out suicide bombing and killed the acting governor of Badakhshan, he said, adding that Taliban leadership should have take serious action to prevent Daesh attacks in the future.
Narrative that Daesh is a small group is unrealistic
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier said that there is no place for Daesh in Afghanistan and they are committed to fight them till the end.
He also said that Daesh is no longer a threat, but it seems is no longer the case as Daesh is now able to carry more attacks.
The narrative that Daesh is a small group and has been dismantled is not realistic, said a political pundit.
“Daesh were only in Kabul and Nangarhar province in the past, but since Taliban takeover, Daesh is in Kabul, Balkh, Kunduz, Nangarhar, Badakhshan and other provinces,” the expert told Harici on condition of anonymity.
He called on the Taliban to take Daesh as a serious threat, and carry out a comprehensive operation to eliminate them before they carry other attacks and take more lives.
