ISIS-K terrorists test the Taliban

The bomb blast that killed 46 Shia worshippers and wounded 143 in northern Afghanistan is a horrifying reminder of the growing threat posed by ISIS-Khorasan terrorists following the US withdrawal. The attack during Friday prayers at a mosque in Kunduz province coincided with the first meeting in Doha between a US CIA-led delegation and Taliban officials. It was about the agreement Donald Trump reached in February 2020, that if the US withdrew, the Taliban would not harbour terrorists who could attack the US and its allies.

The Kunduz bombing and a spate of similar atrocities across Afghanistan show the limits of the Taliban’s capacity to rein in ISIS-K, if it wants to. The situation should sound the alarm about the way the world’s deadliest Islamist terrorist group is losing no time using the US withdrawal to intensify its attacks. Like the Taliban, ISIS-K is made up of Sunni Muslim extremists. But the two groups are fiercely opposed. The 10 per cent of Afghanistan’s 40 million people who are Shia Muslims are targeted relentlessly by ISIS-K. On Saturday, ISIS-K said the Kunduz attack was carried out by a Uighur Muslim suicide bomber and targeting Shias and the Taliban “for its willingness to expel (Afghanistan’s several thousand) Uighurs to meet demands from China”. The statement adds intrigue to China’s attempts to cosy up to the Taliban since the US withdrawal. As part of Beijing’s efforts to subjugate its Uighur minority, it has reportedly been urging the Taliban to expel Uighurs believed to be fighters of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement sheltering in Afghanistan.

In Doha, whatever hopes the US delegation had of a reaffirmation by the Taliban that it would stick by the deal on harbouring terrorists were short-lived. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said there would be “no co-operation with Washington on containing ISIS-K”. The Taliban was able to deal with ISIS-K on its own, he said. The Biden administration should not take such assurances at face value. Just as Kabul’s new terrorist rulers are doing little to curb ISIS-K’s activities, there is no sign, either, of the Taliban fulfilling its promise to Mr Trump to sever its ties with al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan. Like ISIS-K, al-Qa’ida is becoming more active.

ISIS-K (Khorasan refers to a historical region that included parts of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan) poses a growing threat to South Asia as a whole, including India. So does al-Qa’ida, buoyed by the Taliban takeover. The Taliban’s refusal to co-operate will test Joe Biden’s confident assertion that “over the horizon” missile strikes from afar will be sufficient to forestall a looming jihadist resurgence.