Daesh threatened to target Chinese embassy in Afghanistan

Islamic State (IS) also known as Daesh militants have threatened to target Chinese, Indian, and Iranian embassies in Afghanistan aimed at isolating the Taliban from a handful of countries it counts as diplomatic allies.

The local affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K), is attempting to “undermine the relationship” between the Taliban and the UN member states in the Central and South Asia region, according to United Nations

The UN members are going to discuss the report at the UN Security Council in New York later today. The report also said that IS has positioned itself as the primary rival to the Taliban. The revelations were made in a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“The activities of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) remained a significant terrorist threat in Central and South Asia, and the group retained ambitions to conduct external operations,” the 16th report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of member states in countering the threat said here.

IS had already set a portray that the Taliban are incapable of providing security in Afghanistan.

Daesh is a serious threat

Indeed, Daesh is posing a serious threat to the security of Afghanistan. “It is not only about Afghanistan. Daesh is eager to undermine security of the whole region,” said a Taliban official at the ministry of defense.

Speaking to Harici on condition of anonymity, the official said that Taliban have already taken a series of steps to prevent Daesh from carrying out attacks, but did not rule out a security lapse.

“In the past we have seen attacks claimed by Daesh, and we also agree on a security lapse, but since the last attack in front of foreign ministry, plenty of steps have been taken to bolster the security situation in Kabul as well as in big cities across Afghanistan,” he furthered.

Daesh is a foreign phenomenon and has no root inside Afghanistan, according to the official. “After winter, the Afghan security forces will launch a comprehensive attack across Afghanistan to suppress Daesh,” he said.

Russian embassy and Chinese hotel attacks

Daesh has intensified attacking densely populated areas in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Beside mosques, shrines, military vehicles, hotels, and other civilian areas, Daesh has started attacking foreign missions highlighting a new shift on the group’s policy.

The group was behind deadly attacks in the past two months, including an attack on Russian and Pakistani embassies, also a hotel in Kabul famous for Chinese guests.

Smoke rises from a hotel famous for Chinese guests following an explosion, in Kabul, on Dec. 12. AP

The report of the Secretary-General furthered that an attack in September last year on the Russian embassy in Kabul was the first against a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan since Taliban returned into power.

“Apart from high-profile attacks, ISIL-K conducted near-daily attacks targeting Shia minorities, which also served to undermine the Taliban’s authority and challenge their nascent security agencies,” according to the US reported by Bloomberg.

However, the Taliban has repeatedly stressed that the security of diplomatic offices and foreign diplomats will be maintained and their security have been beefed up.

Possibilities of attacks on other foreign missions

On February 2, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced closure of its embassy in Kabul over threats of a possible attack by Daesh on the diplomatic office.

“All the embassy staff and employees of the embassy have been shifted to Pakistan’s capital city Islamabad and there is no clear date when they will return to Kabul,” a senior diplomat at the Afghan foreign ministry told Harici.

There was a threat that Daesh will use a car bomb to target the Saudi embassy in Kabul, according to the official.

“We left with no other option but to close the embassy to rescue our staff,” another source in the Saudi Arabia embassy in Kabul told Harici.

“Protecting our staff is important for us but we will continue to keep our diplomatic mission active to serve the Afghan people even from outside,” he added.

Only 12 foreign missions are active

After the collapse of the republic government, most of foreign embassies closed their missions, and only 12 of them were active in Kabul.

Embassies of Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, UAE, India and Turkey are active at the moment.

The Taliban had earlier said that France, US, UK, Germany, Canada, Spain and Australia are operating in Doha and they are in contact with the Afghan embassy there.

There were also reports that Turkish and Qatari embassies have been placed on high security alert and also more forces were stationed there.

Between 1,000 to 3,000 Daesh fighters

It has said that the UN member states in the Central and South Asian region estimate there are between 1,000 and 3,000 Daesh fighters, of whom approximately 200 are of Central Asian origin.

However, some believe there are as many as 6,000 Daesh fighters and a large number of them are stationed in eastern Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces.

However, most of the Daesh attack was against targets in Kabul and Balkh, one of the most economically developed provinces in the north, is of primary interest to Daesh in terms of revenue generation.

“One member state reported that the group had started to smuggle narcotics, which would represent a new development,” the report said.

According to the report, ISIL-K media organization Voice of Khorasan released propaganda in Pashto, Persian, Tajik, Uzbek and Russian with the goal of recruiting from ethnic groups in the region to strengthen the group’s capabilities.

ETIM and Daesh relations

Cooperation between the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and ISIL-K, even though historically the former had aligned itself with al-Qaida, has been highly noted, the report added.

According to the member state, such cooperation included jointly published Uighur-language propaganda posters, the exchange of personnel, and military advice and planned joint operations, such as the ETIM sending members to join the operational unit of ISIL-K responsible for tracking and carrying out attacks against Chinese nationals.

In July last year, the two groups reportedly plotted to purchase weapons and conduct terrorist attacks against Chinese targets in Afghanistan. The Syrian branch of the ETIM had actively recruited Chinese nationals from Daesh in the Syrian Arab Republic, a UN member state said in the report.