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Recent Appearances...

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Between ISIS and Ukraine. What does the handwriting of the terrorist attack at Crocus say?

2024-03-26

Direct Translaion via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

Long. Lots of useful information about ISIS at the bottom.

[REGNUM] The terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS), took responsibility for the terrible terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow. But this only adds questions about the true organizers of the tragedy.

The first message on behalf of Amaq, the main information resource of ISIS, released on March 22, was duplicated on several ISIS-related information platforms, for example, on the ISIS channel “Nashir News” and the pro-ISIS channel “Ilam”, as was also done during other terrorist attacks. On March 23, Amaq published a more detailed statement from ISIS with details of the terrorist attack and with a photo of its perpetrators in front of the organization’s flag.

On the same day, but a little later, there was an official statement from the “press service” of ISIS, which was distributed through channels associated with this terrorist organization. And finally, also on March 23, an Amaq News video appeared with horrifying scenes of the terrorists' actions, filmed by themselves, entitled "Amaq Agency Exclusive Footage."

The fact that the faces of the terrorists in the photos and videos were “blurred” should not be embarrassing and does not indicate the fake nature of these frames. For example, during the terrorist attack in Iranian Kerman, the statement of the terrorists against the backdrop of the ISIS flag was published with “blurred” faces. This is a common but not required practice.

At the same time, there are doubts that the terrorists who carried out the massacre of our fellow citizens had deep ideological ties with ISIS and were recruited directly by emissaries of this group.

The investigation will put a final point on this, but in any case, the involvement of ISIS in this terrorist attack cannot in any way exclude the possibility that, in fact, behind the attack on Crocus City were the intelligence services of states hostile to Russia, primarily the Kiev regime, which took advantage of the “flag” » ISIS and the willingness of these terrorists to chalk up the inhumane act to their own account.

For the “caliphate,” as ISIS calls itself, the statement that its “soldiers” carried out a terrorist attack is, first and foremost, an indicator of the viability of the project.

True.

Therefore, in the current conditions, “ISIS” members are not particularly picky about the ideology of the perpetrators, as well as how correctly they understand the dogmatic and other guidelines of this group.

We’ve noticed.

For them, the main thing is to maintain the myth that the “caliphate project” is alive, as is its slogan “to survive and expand.” In this case, we are talking about expanding the group’s activity to those territories where it has not yet declared itself with the bloodiest terrorist attacks, as in the Russian Federation.

On the other hand, for Kyiv, using the ISIS brand is a good way to evade responsibility, but at the same time achieve the same goals as if this terrorist attack was carried out by militants whose affiliation with the Zelensky regime is unconditional.

Russa desperately wants to hang tuis round Kiev’s neck…

It is significant that this terrorist action clearly fits into the outline of a terrorist attack on the Russian Federation against the backdrop of the inability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to achieve success in the zone of the Northern Military District.

Hence the DRG attacks on the Belgorod and Kursk regions, the constant shelling of our cities,

…which Russia started…

kamikaze drone strikes on civilian vehicles and even individual citizens, and, finally, the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall as the apogee of this terrorist offensive.

According to the organizers, the offensive should sow distrust of the population in the authorities, highlight all the most pressing problems (migration, interfaith and interethnic relations), turning cracks in them into fault lines, make Russians realize that now the war concerns each of them, and wherever they are were located from Belgorod to Vladivostok, they cannot feel safe. And even where drones and MLRS missiles cannot reach, terrorists can overtake them.

In this case, for Kyiv it does not matter what brand or name these terrorists have - RDK, ISIS or anything else. The main thing is to achieve your desired goals. Make Russian citizens doubt their choice, which they made on March 15–17, 2024.

As for the possibility of organizing such terrorist attacks, for which ISIS will ultimately take responsibility, a hypothetical situation may look like this: a certain group, attracted through combined recruitment methods, that is, material interest, Russophobia and radical religious attitudes, is being trained and receives everything it needs from the intelligence services of third countries.

Then, in agreement with the same special services, which can act as some kind of “preachers,” they make a statement to ISIS, indicating that they are preparing an attack and that they swear an oath to ISIS, thus receiving the status of “soldiers of the caliphate.” This is in effect for notice.

No emissaries will come and check how sincere these (in)people are in their belief in the ideology of ISIS and share its guidelines; no one will demand a preliminary plan of operation either. This can be done after the fact, and it is even possible that the future terrorist should first record the oath (bayat) of ISIS, send or post the recording in a safe place, without sending directly to the real, deeply secret structures of the terrorist organization, with which he simply does not have communication channels.

All this makes it easier for interested third parties to use the ISIS flag.

It is also noteworthy that the ISIS statement includes the definition of “soldiers of the caliphate”, that is, we are talking about people previously unknown to these terrorists who declared an oath and carried out a terrorist attack on their behalf, without being sent to a particular country by the “central command” of ISIS and the Amniyat security service.

If the terrorist attack is planned directly by Amniyat and proven militants, then the terrorists are no longer declared “soldiers of the caliphate,” but “martyr brothers,” and from the wording itself one can conclude that there is no provision for saving their lives after the terrorist attack.

“INGHIMASI” WITHOUT “ISTISHKHADIYEV”
Formally, ISIS fighters on the battlefield (including during sabotage or terrorist attacks) can be divided into three types, which, in turn, are divided into subtypes: this is the “infantry” itself with light small arms, RPGs and ATGMs; “Istishhadi” - suicide bombers to break through the enemy’s defenses and cause damage to his manpower, who are sent by Amniyat to carry out terrorist attacks; "ingimasi" - "commandos" or "stormtroopers", usually trained fighters for operations and actions in difficult areas, who can also wear suicide "belts", but detonate them only when necessary.

For example, in issue No. 11 of the ISIS magazine “Rumiyah”, the combined terrorist attacks in Tehran are described as follows: the first group of “Istishhadis” blew themselves up at the Khomeini mausoleum, the second group of “Inghimasis” of three people attacked the parliament building.

Accordingly, the terrorists from Crocus City were also called “ingimasi”, despite the fact that among them there were no “istishkhadis”, who are usually used in the preparation of terrorist attacks by Amniyat.

Therefore, now, during the decline of ISIS, the procedure for declaring a “soldier of the caliphate” has become even more simplified. And it allows virtually anyone to use the “ISIS brand.” Especially if we are not talking about suicide attacks, where ideological pumping is required, but about the actions of the “Ingimasyev”.

At the same time, it is obvious that the Crocus terrorists themselves did not have the capabilities to prepare such a terrorist attack, but were most likely selected for the implementation of a specific plan. Weapons caches were organized, waste routes were worked out, and so on. All that ISIS in Russia could hardly organize, but that the intelligence services and local agents of third countries could provide in the interests of terrorists acting on behalf of ISIS.

Again, the Islamic rhetoric appearing as if specifically on the video recording of the terrorist attack should convince these individuals of their “sincere” adherence to the ISIS ideology. Probably, the customers themselves could have asked them for this, which was included in the “price” for ruined human lives.

At the moment, there is no convincing evidence of the involvement of those arrested in Salafi or radical Islamist circles, just as there are no signs of their stable affiliation with the corresponding subculture.

The terrorist attack was not carried out at all in the style of the relevant terrorist organizations.

When attacking such a significant object with an entire armed group, where security forces and police were supposed to arrive, ISIS, obviously, in its own planning of this operation, would be extremely interested in the “ingimasi” eventually blowing up their “suicide belts” when entering the battle.

Those cases when ISIS terrorists left the scene of a terrorist attack are noticeably different from the events at Crocus in terms of the scale of preparation and planning and are more likely to be of a spontaneous nature, like in January 2024 in Istanbul.

"VELAYAT KHORASAN"
In this context, it should also be noted that the statements of ISIS themselves did not say anything that their cell “Islamic State - Velayat Khorasan” (ISIS-K) was behind the terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation.

It is generally believed that this is an Afghan-Pakistani affiliate of ISIS. And the fact that the terrorist attack was carried out by Tajiks should have convinced everyone that ISIS-X was behind it. Let us recall that the terrorist attacks in Iranian Kerman on behalf of ISIS-X were carried out by people from Tajikistan, as was the January terrorist attack in Istanbul.

ISIS-X, dominated by Tajiks and Uzbeks, is trying to become the most active cell of ISIS along with the group’s African branches and spread its terrorist activity to almost all of Eurasia.

Actually, ISIS-X, dominated by Tajiks and Uzbeks, is trying to become the most active cell of ISIS along with the group’s African branches and spread its terrorist activity to almost all of Eurasia.

Initially, ISIS-X had Pakistani roots, in the sense that its activities spread to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

Its existence should be counted from September 2014.

Then a “delegation” of IS arrived in the Pakistani province of Waziristan from Syria and Iraq and held negotiations with some representatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an independent Pakistani jihadist structure fighting Islamabad and not associated with the Afghan Taliban, although consonant in the name. Among the leaders of this group were those who moved away from the traditional Hanafi madhhab for Pashtuns and began to profess Arabian Salafism.

This caused a split in the TTP, and some of its Salafi field commanders tried to impose their views as the only true ones for the entire organization, which, however, did not meet with understanding among the majority of militants and Tehrik leaders. This is what ISIS tried to take advantage of.

As a result of negotiations with IS emissaries, on October 15, 2015, Hafiz Said Khan, one of its leaders, officially left the TTP, along with seven other top-level “schismatics,” including the “official” TTP representative Shahidullah Shahid ; TTP district chief Khyber Gul Zaman Fateh ; TTP Chief Mufti in Peshawar Hassan Swati ; Kurram District Chief Hafiz Dawlat Khan ; TTP commander in Waziristan Abdul Bahar Mehsud and others.

They created a new group called Tehreek-e-Khilafat Pakistan (TCP), pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

ISIS-X was proclaimed on January 11, 2015 and became the successor to the TKP, and Said Khan became its first leader.

The group was unable to gain a foothold in Pakistan due to the rather effective actions of local security forces and the conflict with the TTP and tried to transfer its activity to Afghanistan, where by June 2015 it occupied some areas in the Nananghar province, which is still one of the centers of ISIS activity.

After the Americans eliminated Hafiz Said Khan in 2016 and his successor Abdul Hasib Logari in 2017, ISIS-X actually split into two independent factions, as numerous people from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and other representatives of the Central Asian republics refused to recognize the new leadership ISIS-X is led by Pashtuns who came from Afghanistan.

Thus, two independent groups began to operate under the brand “Islamic State Vilayat Khorasan” in 2017. One - consisting of natives of the Central Asian republics and local Tajiks and Uzbeks who joined them, and the other - of Pakistani Pashtuns and Afghan Salafis from the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.

This division probably continues to this day, but with a significant dominance of Uzbeks and Tajiks.

At the same time, ISIS-X, having invaded Afghanistan, entered into confrontation not only with government troops and the international contingent, but also with the Taliban, who were able to inflict a number of sensitive defeats on ISIS. For example, they defeated the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which decided to join ISIS-X.

Subsequently, the main burden of countering ISIS in Afghanistan also fell on the Taliban, while government troops, on the contrary, often saved the “ISIS” from complete destruction. As this, for example, happened during the Battle of Darzab in July 2018, where the main forces of ISIS-X were concentrated in Afghanistan at that time.

The Taliban practically destroyed this group of 700 militants (of which 128 were captured). There were 200 survivors who turned to the Afghan pro-American government for help. It provided them with a corridor to retreat to territories controlled by government forces, so as not to be completely destroyed by the Taliba. There, the remnants of this group surrendered to the Afghan authorities.

Currently, despite terrorist attacks, ISIS-X in Afghanistan is significantly weaker than in 2017–2018. The group can carry out individual acts of intimidation, but is unable to ensure sustainable territorial control over entire regions.

Therefore, it is likely that the Taliban will be able to restrain the activity of ISIS-X and prevent any cities and regions from falling under its control, but it is unlikely that in the foreseeable future they will be able to completely eliminate all cells of this terrorist organization in Afghanistan.

In turn, ISIS-X seeks to demonstrate its activity through various terrorist attacks, thereby compensating for its own failures in Afghanistan, and at the same time, it is probably ready to provide “its flag” to anyone who will bring “black resonance” to the group.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

FSB detains 49 militant accomplices who were sending money to Syria

2024-02-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Almost 50 accomplices of Islamists who transferred money to militants in Syria were detained in 22 regions of Russia. The Center for Public Relations of the FSB of the Russian Federation reported this on February 26.

The FSB, in cooperation with Rosfinmonitoring and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, eliminated the international channel of resource support for militants from “Katiba Tawhid wal-Jihad”

Also spelt Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad. The Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

(a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), which was coordinated by emissaries located in Syria.

“As a result of the activities carried out on the territory of 22 Russian regions, 49 members of an accomplice terrorist network involved in the collection and transfer of funds for the needs of militants operating in Syria were detained,” the report says.

It is noted that some of them spread radical Islamic ideology in the Muslim Ummah of the Russian Federation via the Internet and justified terrorism.

The department noted that criminal cases have been initiated, operational search activities and investigative actions are ongoing.

As Regnum reported, a student was taken into custody in the Altai Territory for trying to send a parcel of medicines abroad to the militants of the Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation). He established contact with terrorists, and during the conversation expressed a desire to go to Syria and join the ranks of a terrorist organization.

In addition, at the end of 2023, the student purchased a batch of medical supplies needed in real combat conditions. Next, he sent the parcel abroad to the address specified by the “curators” in the interests of a terrorist organization. The mail was promptly seized by FSB operatives. A criminal case has been initiated on this fact.

Link

Afghanistan

Heaven of Foreign Militants: The Taliban Are Extensively Hosting Extremist Groups

2023-09-10

[8am] The Doha Agreement obligated the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
to cut their connections with regional and international terrorist groups. Despite this commitment, with the Taliban’s return to power, concerns have been raised by the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Security Council, United States, Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and other security bodies regarding the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. A report from the Hasht-e Subh Daily, two years after the Taliban’s resurgence, reveals that a considerable number of regional jihadists, along with their families, are actively operating within Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

These findings indicate that approximately 300 families linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Ansarullah of Tajikistan have settled in the northeastern region, particularly in Badakhshan province. Reliable sources in eastern Afghanistan further verify that thousands of families associated with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) murderous Moslems are currently residing under Taliban governance. Moreover, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighters, despite China’s backing of the Taliban, are capitalizing on the benefits of their presence in Afghanistan. Many of these murderous Moslems maintain ties not only with the Taliban but also with al-Qaeda.

Moreover, the Taliban not only incorporate certain jihadists into their own ranks but also furnish them with Afghan identification documents and passports, dispersing them across different regions of the nation. Intriguingly, these murderous Moslems have also formed familial connections with Afghan households to strengthen their foothold under Taliban governance in Afghanistan.

UNVEILING AL-QAEDA: THE PRESENCE EXPOSED BY AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI
One of the groups that causes widespread concern among many countries is al-Qaeda, which they believe should not be present in Afghanistan. The Doha Agreement directly addresses this issue, with the United States securing a commitment from the Taliban to sever ties with this group. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...
in Afghanistan exposed a remarkably close relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda—one that not even the Doha Agreement managed to break. Even prior to al-Zawahiri’s demise, suspicions lingered about the Taliban’s intentions. The United Nations Security Council repeatedly asserted that the Taliban maintained connections with al-Qaeda hard boys. During that time, reports indicated that al-Qaeda operated in 15 provinces across Afghanistan. al-Qaeda members usually assumed a secondary role in battles alongside the Taliban, primarily focusing on offering guidance and training. Now, with the Taliban’s resurgence to power, this group’s members are inclined to rejuvenate their network and leverage the Taliban’s rule.

Zawahiri’s Letter to bin Laden, discussed in the Hasht-e Subh Daily during the reexamination of the Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
case, indicates that al-Qaeda does not intend to leave the Afghan geographical sphere under any circumstances. In the letter, Zawahiri states that al-Qaeda must remain close to the Taliban leadership and work on building trust. Conversely, the letter also demonstrates the commitment of the Taliban leadership to preserve and support al-Qaeda. While the undeniable presence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is evident, determining the exact number of individuals in this network remains challenging. The Taliban even deny the presence of a single al-Qaeda member and have made significant efforts to conceal the identities of these individuals.

However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) of the previous government recently reported that around 300 al-Qaeda members are fighting alongside the Taliban in their conflict. The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee, on the other hand, has cited estimates ranging from 400 to 600 hard boys. Despite the Taliban’s concerted efforts over the years, particularly in the past two years, to avoid exposing the identities and locations of al-Qaeda members, their active presence within the Taliban’s structures as advisors is a detail that the Taliban cannot conceal.

TTP AND SANCTUARIES ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) is also one of the murderous Moslem groups aligned with the Taliban. These two groups share a deep bond, and their recent activities have demonstrated that both, adhering to a common ideology, have been collaborating against the republic system. In the past, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) provided refuge to the Afghan Taliban, but now the hosting role has shifted to the Afghan Taliban. Among all jihadist groups worldwide, they are the sole entity with territorial control. Alongside their close interaction and alignment with the Taliban, the Pak government has repeatedly urged the Taliban to deny sanctuary to the TTP within Afghan soil. In response, the Taliban asserts that no foreign jihadist group has a place in Afghanistan and poses no threat to other countries.

However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
the findings of the Hasht-e Subh Daily indicate that around 10,000 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) murderous Moslems are present in Afghanistan with their families. Most of these hard boys, along with their families, reside in the districts of Goshta, Bati Kot, and Lal Pur in Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province; areas close to the Durand Line, which provide convenient movement for TTP. According to local sources, while many TTP murderous Moslems have been in these areas, particularly in the Salalah region, for several years, their numbers have increased after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Sources state that TTP murderous Moslems and their families are present in regions like Salalah, Mama Khel, Ziarat-e Dagh, Zharai, and Ograi of the Goshta district, where they fulfill their basic needs from the markets of the Goshta district.

Most of these hard boys, who are also believed to be part of the Taliban’s reserve forces, have traveled from Lal Pur district in Nangarhar to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistain to wage war against the Pak government. An informed source, who prefers anonymity in the report, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily: "Many of them have gone from Lal Pur mainly to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. I know a commander who recently went with 30 individuals. The commander is known as Naaser, with the pseudonym Qahraman, he is for the Spin Tankai area in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Other commanders are named Bismillah and Enayatullah. Another one is known as Mullah Piran, originally from Swat, who is currently residing in Kashkot and Gaurik areas. Now the Emirates (Afghan Taliban) members also take the TTP’s seal of approval and head to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, claiming to wage jihad. This was a statement from a TTP commander who was saying that the Afghan Taliban have declared jihad against Pakistain."

On January 4, 2023, Pakistain conducted an aerial attack on the Salala area, but its Foreign Ministry denied responsibility. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
local sources and non-governmental individuals in the Goshta district confirm Pakistain’s ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on the positions of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP). According to them, the attack took place in an area where families of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) were residing. Local sources stated that after the bombing, flames and smoke were observed in the region. The exact casualties of this event were not publicly disclosed, as the Taliban warned people not to discuss the matter among themselves. A source informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily, "No one can raise their voice out of fear, and [people] don’t talk about it among themselves."

Nonetheless, a recorded audio tape came into the possession of the Hasht-e Subh Daily in which members of the Taliban discuss the attack on TTP positions in the Arazi bazaar. The United Nations Security Council also confirmed the presence of TTP murderous Moslems on Afghan soil in a report. The monitoring committee of the UN Security Council referred to the TTP as the "largest constituent" of the Taliban. According to the report, the TTP has between 3,000 to 4,000 murderous Moslems in Afghanistan. The report identifies Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud as the current leader of the TTP and based on that, the TTP has become stronger and can pose a bigger threat in the region. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
Fazal Ur Rehman Khattak, the leader of the National Awami Party (NAP), in a conversation with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, regards the TTP as an inseparable part of the Afghan Taliban. He states, "The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) is an inseparable part of the Afghan Taliban. This organizational distinction between them required intelligence games so that the international community would not see their bases within Pakistain as the Afghan Taliban’s region. Like before, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) exists in Afghanistan." Khattak also confirms the presence of thousands of TTP murderous Moslems in Afghanistan, saying, "Regarding their numbers, it’s difficult to be certain, but their count is not less than a few thousand." Last year, this Pak politician mentioned in a special interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily that most ISIS members are murderous Moslems of the TTP. Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache...
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) of Afghanistan, mentioned the presence of TTP murderous Moslems in Afghanistan in his speech at the Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
Security Conference which was held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. In his speech, Mr. Nabil stated: "Currently, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), under the leadership of Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, are active along the Durand Line, with six to six and a half thousand hard boys."

NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN: BASE OF OPERATIONS FOR TAJIK AND UZBEK MILITANTS
The presence of Central Asian murderous Moslems in the northern part of the country was a contentious issue in the former government. Security sources claimed the presence of dozens of foreign murderous Moslem groups in Badakhshan province. At that time, the Khostak Valley in the Jurm District of Badakhshan province hosted around 300 Central Asian hard boy families. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
after the collapse of the Republic system, most of these foreign groups redirected toward the central parts of districts and cities in the northeastern region of Afghanistan. A source informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily, "During the Republic regime, [foreign hard boys] were here in Khostak, and now they’ve all moved down to the valley. The majority of their families have gone to the province of Takhār. Another group has gone to the forests of Imam Sahib district in Kunduz province. About 20 to 30 families have gone to Baharak district. A few families are located in Fayzabad City. Five families have gone to Jurm District. Similarly, they’ve moved away from the Khostak Valley because no one is dealing with them, so they’re not causing any disturbances. They operate freely and conduct their activities normally. Another group of them has gone to Kalafgan District in Balkh province."

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache...
according to another informed source from Badakhshan province, the number of foreign murderous Moslems present in the Ragh district of Badakhshan province, along with their families, amounts to around 200 to 250 individuals. This source states that the conditions for living and operations have been established for these groups in various districts and urban centers, and as a result, they are attempting to spread out across different densely populated areas. The source adds, "The number of foreign murderous Moslems in Ragh has reached around 200 individuals. They are Tajiks, they are Uzbeks. Khostak Valley used to be their center, but now they have dispersed; they have come to the district of Raghistan, and they are seeking refuge. Some of them have gone to the Imam Sahib district in Kunduz province with their families. They are also present in Fayzabad city. A group of them is in the Maimay area too."

Another source confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that a significant number of these groups have received support from the Taliban and have established family ties. This source adds, "Most of them have obtained Afghan identity cards with the help of the Taliban. Several Tajiks [Tajikistani hard boys] have obtained ID cards in Fayzabad City. A number of them have obtained ID cards in various districts." The source states that around 20 families of Tajikistani Taliban members are living in three villages in the Ragh district. The source elaborates, "Two families among them have married locally, giving and taking daughters of each other. They are living in areas like Sefidab, Dahn Shala, and Khonilar. Similarly, they have dispersed across various areas of Badakhshan province. They have a strong interest in Ragh district due to its gold resources. These people [foreign hard boys] possess resources and capital. Their true intentions and plans remain unknown. The situation is quite complex." The source further revealed, "Before the fall of Badakhshan province to the hands of the Taliban, the center of foreign murderous Moslems was in Khostak valley. A person named Gul Heidar Shafaq has conducted major coordination. Another person named Abdul Rahim is involved. These two Tajiks have plans in this region, but it’s unclear what they are doing."

Referring to the killing of a commander from the Tajikistan border forces at the Afghanistan border, a source states, "A group of them, who were in Maimay, around 6 to 8 individuals, intended to intimidate the Tajiks, transfer their substances [drugs], and monitor the situation. They went for sabotage but clashed with Tajik security forces, resulting in the death of two and the return of four. Foreign murderous Moslems who were in Badakhshan province have mostly gone to Imam Sahib district in Kunduz province, where they have established training centers. Their number exceeds a thousand. They have centralized their operations there, focusing on training and procuring military equipment. It appears significant plans have been laid for Central Asia, but no one dares to voice concern."

Another source tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily that those families of foreign murderous Moslems who have come to Faizabad City, the center of Badakhshan province, live in the area close to the "former national army recruitment center". Additionally, according to the source, foreign murderous Moslems who previously collaborated with the Taliban against former security forces are now in command of the former National Army recruitment center. The source adds, "Foreigners have their base in the same recruitment and mobilization center. Foreign groups that were with the Taliban, of them are now in the former recruitment and mobilization center. They have a very limited presence within the city. They go out during the evening and night." The source further states that some families of foreign murderous Moslems in Badakhshan province are involved in arms trading and gold mining activities.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache...
one of the residents of Badakhshan province has shared his observation with the Hasht-e Subh Daily regarding the presence of foreign murderous Moslems in Kunduz province. They report seeing individuals who cannot speak languages like Persian, Pashto, Uzbek, and Turkmen. According to this source, "It was a few months after the fall [of the previous government]. Our vehicle’s diesel pump was broken. They had just opened a square in the city of Kunduz. There was an automobile repair shop nearby. There were two vehicles packed with individuals. One of their vehicles was broken, so they took it inside the shop. They had a model of a fielder vehicle without a license plate with Left Hand Traffic (LHT). They were dressed in white clothes and wearing handmade traditional skullcaps. They were speaking among themselves, and we couldn’t comprehend. I think they might have been Uighur or Kazakh because they sounded similar to Russian or Kazakh. They had long beards, and their hair was machine-cut. They resembled local Turkmen, but they weren’t Turkmen because it was clear they had no familiarity with the people or the region. Everyone was saying that these are foreign Taliban."

Simultaneously, sources in Badakhshan province reveal that most of the Tajikistani murderous Moslems have gone to the forests of the Imam Sahib district, where they are engaged in training and planning. An informed source estimates the number of Tajik murderous Moslems in this district to be around 30. According to them, the Taliban use these individuals as a means of pressuring Tajikistan. The source adds, "Their number is not more than 30. They have a couple of tanks. Some days, they go to Shir Khan Bandar with the Taliban. There, they showcase themselves to the Tajik trucks passing through the border. They engage in fishing in the Shir Khan Bandar River. Everyone knows them there because they are well-armed and possess American weapons. Tajiks believe they can conquer their country in a day. The Taliban employ them for psychological warfare and pressuring the Tajiks."

A former government official with an in-depth understanding of the northeastern region of the country also informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that all jihadist groups, including ISIS, Ansar Allah, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), are active in northern provinces, particularly the provinces of Badakhshan, Kunduz, Takhar, Balkh, and Sar-e Pol. They added, "Under the Taliban’s protection, they have bases in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province in Spin Zar housing schemes, Shah Ron area, and other locations."

Regarding the presence of leaders from ISIS, Ansar Allah, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the source stated, "Sheikh Abdul Haq Uighuri, responsible for the military network of ISIS, and Mullah Ibraheem, head of Ansar Allah hard boy group have military bases in Baghlan province. Furqan (one of their commanders) lives in the house of Commander Gul Ahmad in the vicinity of Central Silo in the city of Pul-e Khumri, the center of the province."

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache...
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) of the former government of Afghanistan, stated that the Tajikistan Ansar Allah group, Jundallah
..."Soldiers of God," a name used by ~~two~~ multiple separate terror outfits, one active in Iran and the other in Pakistain. Both are Sunni organizations that target Shiites. The Pak version has close relations with al-Qaeda and the Pak Talibs and is probably a false nose and mustache for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi...
group, and the Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
group led by Alim Beg Mohammadov and the Tajik Taliban led by Mehdi Arsalan/Mohammad Sharifov are also present in northeastern Afghanistan, with around 200 to 300 hard boys. Informed and local sources in Badakhshan province also confirm the number of murderous Moslems in these groups and state that they are mainly stationed in border areas with Tajikistan.

THE PRESENCE OF THE EAST TURKESTAN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT (ETIM) IN AFGHANISTAN
According to the findings of the Hasht-e Subh Daily, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is also actively present in Afghanistan. Haji Furqan, the overall commander of the military fronts of this group, spends most of his time in Faizabad City, the center of Badakhshan province. Informed and reliable sources confirm to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that this member of the leadership of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is currently residing in Faizabad city and his security is ensured by the Taliban. He has married in Badakhshan province and has acquired a forged identity and passport. This matter has also been confirmed by the United Nations Security Council’s monitoring committee report. The United Nations report states that Badakhshan province serves as the main base for this group. An individual named Abdul Haq al-Turkistani is responsible for leading this group.

Sources continue to confirm that this group is currently rebuilding its strongholds in the Wurduj district of Badakhshan province. A source tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily: "They have occupied the area and are reinforcing their strongholds. They control the region entirely." The United Nations Security Council’s monitoring committee report also states that this group has reconstructed several strongholds in Badakhshan province and expanded its operational area. According to the report, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) has clandestinely procured arms to enhance its military capabilities.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache...
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) of the former government of Afghanistan, estimates the number of murderous Moslems in the Turkestan Islamic Party

...... Uighur jihadi group based in Badakshan, Afghanistan and listed under Tehrik-e-Taliban in the Al Qaeda organization table. Their Syria subsidiary currently reports to Al Nusra in the Idlib-Latakia region, where the Russians and Americans have been taking turns shooting them — they’re on their third Number 1 in three years......
(TIP/ETIM) to be around 700 to 800 individuals. Mr. Nabil has stated that the Uighur murderous Moslems are led by Haji Furqan and Sheikh Abuzar, who are mostly active in the northern and northeastern regions of the country. Mr. Nabil also mentions that this group is active in the provinces of Badghis and Ghor, with an estimated 100 to 150 hard boys.

According to the United Nations Security Council’s Monitoring Committee report, it has been mentioned that this group is actively engaged in exchanging military experiences and manufacturing kabooms in collaboration with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) and Ansarullah group. The Security Council’s report states that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is focusing its attacks on China’s interests in Afghanistan. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement’s (ETIM) primary goal is to establish an independent Islamic state for Uighurs in China and other Turkic-speaking groups in East China and Central Asia. While this group was previously listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, Washington removed it from the list last year.

Sources speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily claim that Haji Furqan is between 65 to 70 years old. One source states: "[Haji Furqan] mostly resembles Afghan Turkmens. He has a long beard, and a strong build, and is considered a religious scholar. He possesses eloquence and fluency, speaking fluent Persian. His preaching has had a significant impact in the areas he has operated in, attracting a larger following. The Taliban hold him in high respect. He has also trained the Taliban in using mines, explosives, and tanks during their fight against the former Afghan government."

Another source, speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, stated that Haji Furqan spent most of his time during the Republic era in the village of "Keyu" in the Jurm district, near the Khostak and Warduj valleys. This source added, "During the Republic era, Haji Furqan was a primary financial supporter of Qari Fasihuddin [the chief of staff of the armed forces of the Taliban]. To the extent that Furqan gave money to the Taliban in Badakhshan province, the Taliban themselves [the Taliban regime] did not provide financial assistance." This source mentioned, "Furqan is currently on the move. He is mostly in Fayzabad. He has a close relationship with a drug smuggler and the third-ranking member of the Taliban in this province, and he spends most of his time at his house. He has taken a wife and established personal connections."
Furthermore, this source mentions another Taliban member who monitors the security situation of Haji Furqan, but due to security issues, the name of this Taliban member is not disclosed.

It is noteworthy that according to the claims of sources, Haji Furqan has also been involved in the Kharooq uprisings in Tajikistan’s Badakhshan province. According to one source, some members of this group operate under different aliases in a secretive manner in Tajikistan, and their financial resources are provided by drug smugglers. It is mentioned that Haji Furqan has spent some time with the al-Qaeda network and currently maintains close ties with that network as well. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
the Hasht-e Subh Daily cannot independently confirm Haji Furqan’s role in the Kharooq uprisings in Tajikistan’s Badakhshan province.

Members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have also attempted to establish familial ties in Afghanistan. Some members of this group have obtained Afghan identity cards and passports with the help of the Taliban. The United Nations Security Council report states that this group seeks to establish a presence in Afghanistan through various methods, including marriage, acquiring identities through fraudulent documents, and portraying their members as Afghan residents.

Earlier, Ramazon Rahimzoda, the Interior Minister of Tajikistan, had stated that the Taliban had distributed passports to around 3,000 members of "terrorist groups." He added that terrorist groups in northern Afghanistan are located near the Tajikistan border. Rahimzoda also asserted that over 20 terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan.

Previously, the Taliban have repeatedly declared that they have severed ties with terrorist groups in the region and denied the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan. This group, which interacts with regional countries, has also provided written assurances to China that it will not support the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other groups opposing the government of China in Afghanistan. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
it is noteworthy that the leadership members of this group (ETIM) in northeastern Afghanistan receive protection and identity documents under the stringent security management of the Taliban. Rahmatullah Nabil has also confirmed that foreign terrorist groups, due to their deep and ideological connections with the Taliban, have obtained Afghan identities and have settled in various parts of the country under different names.

It should be noted that alongside the United States, China, Pakistain, and Central Asian countries, Russia has also expressed serious concerns about the infiltration of murderous Moslem groups in Central Asia. Although Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
, the President of Russia, handed over the Afghan embassy in Moscow to the Taliban, he has issued warnings about the presence of terror groups in Afghanistan. He stated that these terrorist groups pose a threat to the stability and security of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. It remains unclear how long these concerns will persist, but documents and evidence indicate that the relationship between the Taliban and regional and global jihadist groups is not conclusively terminated. It appears that in any case, the group will either protect them within their structures or under their support.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Philadelphia teen charged with plotting potentially 'catastrophic terrorist attack'

2023-08-15

[NYPOST] A Philadelphia teenager has been charged with plotting a potentially "catastrophic terrorist attack" after federal authorities discovered the teen had been allegedly communicating with an al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group and gathering bomb-making material.

The 17-year-old was taken into custody by FBI SWAT officers at his home in West Philadelphia on Aug. 11 after an investigation headed by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, officials revealed Monday.

The unnamed teen is suspected to have been in contact with Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad,

...the Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China...

an organization designated as a global terrorist group by the State Department in 2022.

The group, which has links to al Qaeda, primarily operates in Syria’s Idlib Province but is also believed to be responsible for the April 2017 metro attack in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and an August 2016 suicide boom-mobileing outside the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The juvenile allegedly received guidance from the terror group on how to construct improvised bombs and FBI agents observed the teen purchasing bomb-making materials and "outdoor or tactical gear" before his arrest.

"The work of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack in the name of a perverted ideology that in no way, shape, or form represents the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of peace-seeking people of faith, including Moslems," Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday.

"The charges we have filed against this individual represent the most serious alleged terrorist activity prosecuted in Philadelphia County court in recent history. We intend to pursue full accountability for these crimes and will continue to work vigilantly with our law enforcement partners to protect all of our communities from hateful, ideologically driven acts of violence," he added.

The suspect, who wasn’t named by officials because of his status as a juvenile, will avoid federal charges for now. US attorney offices generally do not handle juvenile cases, even those related to terrorism.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office will file a motion to prosecute the suspect as an adult and charges could be escalated to the federal level as the investigation continues, Krasner said Monday.

The teenager has been charged with weapons of mass destruction, criminal conspiracy, arson, causing/risking catastrophe, attempt to commit criminal mischief, possession of an instrument of crime, and recklessly endangering another person.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire said Monday that the teenager "appeared to be taking steps to travel overseas for the purpose of joining, or supporting, terrorist activity."

"Most concerning however, was the evidence that he had access to firearms and had purchased items and materials commonly used in the construction of improvised bombs," McGuire said.

In the last few weeks, the suspect had allegedly been surveilled purchasing tactical equipment, chemicals, wiring, and devices that could be used as remote detonators.

On Aug. 8, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection also provided records to authorities which revealed 14 international shipments of military and tactical gear to the juvenile’s address.

"I think it’s very fair to say that lives were saved because of this investigation," McGuire added.

A 2018 bulletin from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warns that teenagers are "particularly vulnerable" to being radicalized by terror groups that often gear their messaging toward youths, and plots and attacks by minors in the US and abroad are "likely to endure."

"ISIS and al-Qa’ida continue to influence minors through online messaging to plan and conduct attacks," the DNI memo states. "For example, in October 2018, the al-Abd al-Faqir Media Foundation—a pro-ISIS media outfit—launched its first Arabic-language magazine titled ’Youth Of The Caliphate,’ aimed at young supporters."

The missive to law enforcement notes that there were "few identifiable behaviors that raised suspicion or concern" in several terrorism cases involving minors, underscoring the challenge law enforcement face in identifying juvenile terrorists.

"Violent bad boys’ use or encouragement of minors to conduct attacks probably stems in part from their desire to influence impressionable supporters and circumvent CT security measures that monitor for suspicious activities conducted by adults," the DNI note states.

Link

Afghanistan

The Territory of the Jihadists: Who Are the Foreign Fighters of ISIS in Afghanistan?

2023-08-13

[8am] Based on the findings of the Hasht-e Subh Daily, IS-K in Afghanistan has not only recruited local fighters but has also added a significant number of imported muscle to its ranks. Paks have consistently been considered primary leaders of IS-K and currently hold notable roles in the council of the group, which is the decision-making body for IS-K, evaluating and finalizing the leader’s decisions. Despite some Pak IS-K commanders being killed in Afghanistan, certain Paks still operate as nominal leaders in some provinces, including Kunar and Laghman
...Afghan province with a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a repution for great wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.

He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.

After that it was mostly notable for the production of dirt, rocks, and holy men...
Recently, Uzbek fighters from the Jundallah
..."Soldiers of God," a name used by ~~two~~ multiple separate terror outfits, one active in Iran and the other in Pakistain. Both are Sunni organizations that target Shiites. The Pak version has close relations with al-Qaeda and the Pak Talibs and is probably a false nose and mustache for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi...
group have joined IS-K. After the liquidation of their leader by the Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
, these Uzbek holy warriors, with around two thousand fighters, pledged allegiance to ISIS and joined its Khorasan branch to seek Dire Revenge against the Taliban.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder......
ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) has escalated efforts to attract Pak and Uzbek fighters. The leadership of this branch of ISIS continues to strive towards enlisting dissatisfied Uzbek fighters from the Taliban. Notably, with the presence of these fighters, ISIS activities have expanded across Central Asia, resulting in rocket attacks on other countries.

The ISIS group launched its branch’s activities in Afghanistan and the region under the name "ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K)" for the first time in 2015. The geographical scope envisioned by ISIS for its Khorasan region included parts of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistain. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
the activities of this group have expanded since then, extending its attacks to Central Asia. The latest United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
statistics indicate that the ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) branch currently has between four to six thousand fighters in Afghanistan.

Noted.

Previous reports suggested that considering the geographic scope of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K), most of its members are Afghan nationals and hold key positions within the group.

However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
findings of the Hasht-e Subh Daily indicate that a significant portion of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) is composed of foreign jihadists; individuals who, due to dissatisfaction with other jihadist groups, including the Afghan Taliban and Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), have pledged allegiance to ISIS. Some members of al-Qaeda also have connections with ISIS, and given the presence of both groups in Afghanistan, it’s possible that they might have dual affiliations.

Why not? The leadership of the Haqqani faction of the Afghan Taliban also have places on the Al Qaeda table of organization.

But the question remains: which specific groups’ fighters are currently part of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K), and what role do they play in expanding the group’s operational reach?

PAKS: FROM FOUNDING IS-K TO ACTIVE ROLE IN LAJNA COUNCIL
Despite the presence of Afghan fighters within IS-K, the branch was initially founded by dissident Pak Taliban members on Afghan soil. Hafiz Saeed
...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat. He is periodically placed under house arrest so it looks like the govt is doing something. Once the heat is off they let him go....
Orakzai, a former Pak Taliban commander, pledged allegiance to ISIS in October 2014 due to dissatisfaction with both the Afghan and Pak Taliban. He served as the leader of IS-K for about one and a half years until he was killed by U.S. forces in August 2016. After a year of leadership by Abdul Hasib Pashtun-infested Logari, the leadership of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) (IS-K) once again shifted to Pak fighters. At that time, Abdullah Orakzai, also known as Aslam Farooqi, assumed this responsibility in April 2017 until he was eventually detained and imprisoned by authorities of the former government in the year 2020.

Since then, some dissident Pak Taliban fighters have remained part of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) and have played crucial roles as commanders in the current IS-K conflict. Even some of the "amirs" or (leaders) of IS-K in Afghanistan are Pak fighters. For example, Qari Faateh, who operated as the nominal amir of IS-K in Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
, was announced to have been killed by the Taliban in Kabul in February of this year. At that time, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban front man, stated that Qari Faateh was the head of intelligence and operations for IS-K, and the Taliban accused him of orchestrating attacks on mosques and diplomatic sites.

Continuing, in early June of this year, the Taliban announced the killing of an ISIS commander named Tarab Bajauri in the province of Laghman. This Pak commander was operating as the "amir" (leader) of the IS-K branch in Laghman province and was considered one of the individuals who joined ISIS alongside Hafiz Saeed Orakzai. Bajauri had a long military background and was among those responsible for ISIS’s significant influence in Kunar province. The Taliban regarded him as a key member of the ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) in Afghanistan. Such stances by the Taliban indicate that Pak fighters are significant pillars of IS-K and actively operate within Afghanistan under Taliban control.

Currently, Asadullah Orakzai is another prominent Pak commander of ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K). He operates as the amir of ISIS in Laghman province and is also a member of the Lajna Council. According to the Hasht-e Subh Daily’s findings, this council holds the leadership responsibility for ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) and decides on the group’s activities in the "Khorasan region." Most of the IS-K commanders, especially the Pak ones who are currently active members of ISIS, are actively involved in the Lajna Council. Qari Faateh, who was also a member of this council, participated in making decisions for the future of IS-K. Additionally, Saifullah Orakzai, another prominent commander of IS-K, is a member of this council.

In this way, the findings indicate that Pak fighters are active members of the ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) operating in Afghanistan. They have experience in leading the ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) on two occasions and are currently serving as commanders in provinces as well as engaging in military and intelligence activities.

According to additional information, ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) is vigorously striving to increase its Pak fighters. This branch of ISIS has included the issue of recruiting Pak fighters as part of its future plans. In this process, individuals dissatisfied with their activities alongside the Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) are being targeted for recruitment by ISIS to expand its activities in eastern Afghanistan and certain areas of Pakistain. It’s noteworthy that most Pak members of the ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K) have joined the group due to dissatisfaction with their previous affiliations, and given the extent of this dissatisfaction, the increase in the number of Pak fighters for ISIS is probable.

JUNDALLAH UZBEK JIHADISTS AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT WITH IS-K
The findings indicate that members of the Uzbek group Jundallah have also joined IS-Khorasan (IS-K) in the northern regions of Afghanistan. According to the information, currently, except for a small fraction of the group, most of the Uzbek commanders and fighters have become part of IS-Khorasan (IS-K). ISIS has incorporated a segment of the Jundallah group, consisting of Uzbek fighters in northern Afghanistan, into its ranks. Consequently, Mullah Saad, an Uzbek national, has assumed leadership of this group within IS-Khorasan (IS-K), and Uzbek holy warrior Osama Ghazi serves as his deputy. In addition to these two leaders from the Jundallah group, around two thousand fighters from this group and thousands of their supporters in Takhar, Kunduz, Badakhshan, and Faryab provinces have also become part of IS-Khorasan (IS-K).

This significant shift occurred as Uzbek fighters in Jundallah grew disillusioned with the Taliban regime. According to the Hasht-e Subh Daily’s findings, the Uzbek holy warriors played a major role in the Taliban’s takeover in the north of Afghanistan. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
following the Taliban’s return, Jundallah’s leadership and members faced hostility from them. The Taliban resorted to assassinations of some Jundallah leaders to control the group. Notably, Uzbek migrant Osman Ghazi, who entered Afghanistan with five thousand of his Uzbek followers during Baranuddin Rabbani’s rule, later joined Jundallah at the request of Abdul Malik Rigi, a Jundallah member. Rigi, who operated in Iran, was executed after being arrested by the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran.

After the first fall of the Taliban regime, Ghazi went to Pakistain to lead his group’s terrorist attacks alongside the Afghan Taliban against the previous government. Following orders from Mullah Mohammed Omar, the founder of the Taliban, Ghazi returned with hundreds of his followers to the province of Zabul and, in 2016, made an informal allegiance to ISIS during a consultation with some Taliban leaders. This move seemingly served as part of the plan to eliminate him, as shortly after, Ghazi became the target of an ambush by Taliban commanders and was killed in Zabul province along with his wife and several children.

Based on the findings of the Hasht-e Subh Daily, this action led Osama Ghazi, his son, and 150 other Jundallah members from Zabul province, where his father was present, to go to the provinces of Kandahar and Badakhshan and then leave those areas too. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
he waited for Dire Revenge from the Taliban until, following the Taliban’s resurgence, he and all members of his group joined ISIS. It should be noted that ISIS has utilized Jundallah members in expanding its activities in Central Asia. For instance, a member of this group, who previously operated under Salahuddin Ayubi’s command in Faryab province, launched a rocket attack on the soil of Uzbekistan.

On the other hand, IS-K’s efforts to gain the allegiance of Salahuddin Ayubi, a commander of Uzbek origin and dissatisfied with the Taliban, have intensified. He has close relations with the northern hard boyz and appears to be able to establish connections with other gangs in Tajikistan and other northern regions of the country. Moreover, ISIS, pursuing its plans for expanding activities in Central Asia, seeks to establish further communication with Uzbekistan fighters. This endeavor highlights the group’s intention to engage with some commanders and fighters of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other shoulder......
based on available information, ISIS has previously designated a commander for Tajikistan as well. It is worth recalling that, in addition to Khorasan, the group is also seriously focused on the Indian subcontinent. According to the findings, in mid-2022, the leadership of ISIS instructed its members in the "Province of Hind" to intensify their activities in India and Pakistain. Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the then-leader of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, had urged Sheikh Zubair Ahmed, the ISIS governor in India, to bring about positive changes in that geography. Subsequently, Sheikh Zubair Ahmed decided to activate his media unit and conduct activities through Telegram, following the same directive.

The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, was originally formed in the late 20th century under the name "Jamāʿat al-Tawḥīd wal-Jihād." It merged with al-Qaeda in 2004 but adopted the name "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" in 2013. In 2014, ISIS declared a caliphate, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its first recognized leader. Currently, besides Iraq and some Arab countries, ISIS also operates extensively in Afghanistan. These activities have intensified after the return of the Taliban to power, and they encompass attacks on diplomatic sites and rocket attacks on countries in Central Asia. With recent changes in ISIS and the joining of imported muscle to its Khorasan branch, it appears that the group has significant plans for further infiltration into the "Wilayah of Khorasan." Previously, information indicated that IS-K was seeking to seize control of Kunar Province
...one of the four N2KL provinces (Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar and Laghman). N2KL is the designation used by US and Coalition Forces for the rugged and very violent region opposite Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Northwest Frontier Province. Kunar is the center of the N2KL region. Its population is 95% Pashtun. It is adjacent to Bajaur Agency..
, a move that has been delayed after the assessment by its Lajna Council.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Resident of Adygeya convicted of recruiting into a terrorist organization

2022-12-18

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Farhod Zhuraev, a resident of Adygeya,

...an autonomous republic in the northwest Caucasus whose population is mostly Moslem...

was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony, whom the court found guilty of recruiting citizens into the terrorist organization "Katiba Taukhid val-Jihad."

Also spelt Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad. The Syrian branch of this Al Qaeda franchise is the Uzbeks/Tajiks/Uighurs section allied to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Idlib Province, having pulled together fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Katibat Imam al Bukhari, and Turkestan Islamic Party. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March, 2022. Back home they mostly cause trouble in post-Soviet Central Asia, Russia and Xinjiang of the Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found a resident of Adygeya guilty of recruiting citizens into an international terrorist organization.

The court found that Farhod Zhuraev, from August to October 2020, took part in the activities of Katiba Tawhid wal-Jihad, in particular, he contacted via the Internet with a member of the organization who lived in Volgograd, Kommersant writes on December 16 with the link to the management of the FSB of Russia in Adygea.

Zhuraev repeatedly talked with the inhabitants of Adygea, tried to recruit them to participate in the mentioned organization, and justified terrorist activities. In addition, on his page on the social network, the convict posted videos and audio recordings justifying violent acts on religious grounds, called for extremist and terrorist activities.

The court found Zhuraev guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The verdict has entered into force.

Zhuraev was charged under part 2 of article 280 (public calls for extremist activities), part 2 of article 205.2 (public calls for terrorist activities), part 1.1 of article 205.1 (assistance in terrorist activities) and part 2 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in activities terrorist organization), according to the file on the website of the court.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" wrote that in March 2021, a native of Central Asia , a supporter of a terrorist organization, was detained. He confessed to preparing a terrorist act in the center of Maikop.

Link

Terror Networks

The United States began to mark terrorists

2022-12-04

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Davron Abdullayev

[REGNUM] The Doha Agreement emphasized the fight against IS and Al-Qaeda. According to a number of experts, the agreement also included some secret clauses or verbal agreements.

The arrival of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan and the situation that is developing there are very ambiguous processes, and much is still hidden from the general public. Further, one of the aspects of these events will be considered - the actions of the United States in relation to terrorism in Afghanistan in comparison with the approach of Russia and a number of states in the region, developed at the Moscow Consultative Meeting on Afghanistan, held in November of this year. The meeting will be discussed below.

I decided not to mention the appeal of the US Congress, because the Doha Agreement (February 29, 2020) between the US and the Taliban was developed and signed during the Trump presidency.

The fact that the collective West and, above all, the United States has double standards on almost the entire agenda of international politics has long been no secret. The same is true with approaches to the fight against terrorism. A good example is Syria, where terrorists of all stripes were divided into "bloody radicals" and "fighters" against the no less "bloody" regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Now, it seems, the mentioned standards have begun to be applied to Afghanistan, however, in a slightly different version. In Afghanistan, the Americans did not divide terrorists into “good” and “bad”, but simply “forgotten” those who, in their opinion, do not pose a potential threat to the United States itself and, moreover, can be useful to them. Moreover, already in the Doha Agreement of February 29, 2020 between the United States and the Taliban, only the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda were mentioned among the terrorist groups."

The first statements about the “strengthening” of the positions and growth of the potential of the “Islamic State” and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan were made by the American military, and retired, the current summer. The skirmishers were former heads of US Central Command Kenneth Mackenzie and David Petraeus. The latter also managed to work for a short time as director of the CIA. Further, the baton was picked up by Republican parliamentarians, such as Senator Johnny Ernest and Rep. Mike Waltz. Although the congressmen focused not so much on the growth of terrorist threats as on its cause - the shameful flight from Afghanistan, their statements again featured only ISIS and Al-Qaeda (an organization

WHAT ARE ISIS, AL-QAEDA AND OTHER GROUPS TODAY?
"Al-Qaeda," created in 1988, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, directed the spearhead of the fight against the United States, the countries of the so-called "Western world" and their supporters in Islamic countries. The goal of the organization is to overthrow the secular regimes in these countries and create a "Great Islamic Caliphate."

Experts distinguish five periods in the history of Al-Qaeda: emergence (late 1980s), "wild" period (1990-1996), heyday (1996-2001), periods of existence in the form of a network (2001-2005) and fragmentation (after 2005). A sign of the organization’s decline is the fact that its head, Ayman al-Zawahiri, took an “oath of allegiance” to the leaders of the Taliban - Mullah Akhtar Mansur (2013-2016) and Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada (since 2016) . It is no coincidence that Zawahiri, after the Taliban came to power, took refuge in Kabul.

The "Islamic State" aims to establish a caliphate , similar to the one that existed in the Middle Ages. ISIS seeks to extend its power first to Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon (the countries of the Levant) and, finally, to the entire Islamic world. IS took the creation of the caliphate literally, in contrast to the Muslim Brotherhood" of Egypt and Al-Qaeda, for which the caliphate is either a spiritual idea or a goal for the distant future.

Because of the ruthless violence, all major Muslim theologians condemned ISIS as heretics. The "Islamic State" does not recognize state borders and only allows peace agreements for up to ten years. Support for the "Islamic State" by the Taliban is impossible in principle - in the structure of the "Caliphate" of the IS there is no place for an independent "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

The American media, citing former member of the Afghan parliament Nahid Farid, cited a fantastic figure of 4,500 IS fighters operating in Afghanistan. I wonder where the former parliamentarian, who fled the country more than a year ago and even during the republican period did not have access to any significant secrets, got such specific information? Nevertheless, American politicians and biased media, such as the Afghanistan International TV channel (which has offices in London and Washington), only mention these two terrorist organizations in all their statements and broadcasts, completely "forgetting" about other radical organizations that are no less dangerous, if not for the world as a whole, then for the region. These include the following.

"Lashkar-e-Taiba" (lit. "Army of the Clean" or "Army of the Righteous") is one of the largest and the most active terrorist organizations in South Asia.

It was founded in 1989 with the financial support of Osama bin Laden. The goal is the liberation of Kashmir, based in Pakistan and Afghanistan, operates in Kashmir and India. Some of her attacks were carried out in Pakistan. The organization has been designated a terrorist organization and banned in India, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU, Russia and Australia.

"Jaish-e-Muhammad" ("Army of Mohammed ", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistani jihadist group operating in Kashmir. Established in 2000. The main goal is to separate Kashmir from India and unite it with Pakistan. After the liberation of Kashmir, she intends to carry "jihad" to other parts of India with the intention of expelling Hindus and other non-Muslims from the Indian subcontinent.

Maintains close relations with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Experts claim that JeM was created with the support of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence , which uses it to fight in Kashmir and elsewhere. Jaishe-Muhammad has been banned in Pakistan since 2002, but has reappeared under different names. Designated as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, Russia, Australia, Canada, India, UAE, UK, US and UN.

Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a radical Islamist militant organization. Established in 2007, based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas , has a number of strongholds in Afghanistan. Represents an association of most (not all) Pakistani groups based on common goals: resistance to the "pro-Western" Pakistani government, the establishment of direct (unconstitutional, undemocratic) Sharia in Pakistan , Muslim India , resistance to NATO troops in the territories of Pakistan and Afghanistan (until 2021). The TTP is not united with the Afghan Taliban, however, these groups cooperate closely, which was especially evident during the Afghan war of 2001-2021. They differ in their history, slightly in purpose. Pashtuns dominate the active part of both organizations .

"Islamic Movement of East Turkestan" (also - " Turkestan Islamic Party" , "Turkestan Islamic Movement") - Uighur an illegal armed group whose goal is to create an independent Islamic (Sharia) state in East Turkestan and convert the entire Chinese people to Islam. Sometimes erroneously called "Al-Qaeda in China," which is unlikely, since Al-Qaeda” is a Salafi group, and ETIM is a Sufi group .

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is an Islamist terrorist organization created in 1996 by former members of a number of political parties and movements banned in Uzbekistan . The goal is to overthrow secular power in Uzbekistan and establish a Sharia state. Considered as a terrorist organization by many countries of the world, including Russia and the United States .

Jamaat Ansarullah is a Tajik terrorist organization. It sets as its goal the creation of a Sharia state in Tajikistan. According to some reports, the Taliban transferred five districts bordering Tajikistan in the province of Badakhshan under the control of the group and provided assistance with weapons and ammunition.

In total, according to various estimates, from 20 to 50 different terrorist groups operate in Afghanistan. Above are the largest and most active.

THE SITUATION WITH ISIS AND AL-QAEDA AFTER THE US WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN
Against the "Islamic State," more precisely, its branches in Afghanistan and Pakistan - "Velayat Khorasan," the Taliban actually carried out several, albeit not very large, operations, but war was declared. The reaction of the former allies in the fight against US troops was not long in coming - in response, the Taliban received a number of bloody suicide attacks, mainly in Hazara areas, and widespread reaction on social networks due to the fact that the Taliban is not able to ensure the safety of the population.

Moreover, recently the ISIS switched to attacks on the Taliban army - for example, an attack on the transport of the 205th army corps in Herat, when 14 soldiers of the Islamic Emirate army were killed. At present, the conflict has taken on a protracted character with minor actions on both sides.

With Al-Qaeda, the situation was somewhat different. The Taliban simply "didn't raise their hand" against their longtime ally from the memorable times of cooperation and friendship between bin Laden and Mullah Omar. In addition, Ayman al-Zawahiri renewed the “oath of allegiance” to Mullah Haybatullah Akhundzad. The answer of the Americans was not long in coming: on July 31, an American drone eliminated Zawahiri in Kabul.

A small digression is needed here. In November last year, "humanitarian aid" in cash from the "international community" began to arrive in Afghanistan in the amount of 32 million US dollars a week (subsequently, the size of "aid" packages increased to 40 million). The Taliban cheerfully reported that the money that arrived was being transferred to one of the commercial banks. It is even ridiculous to assume that any of the Afghan banks tried to dispose of at least one dollar of these funds without the knowledge of the Taliban.

To date, the total cash flow has exceeded $1.4 billion. Neither the United States, nor the "international community", nor the Taliban themselves gave a clear explanation of the origin and methods of using these funds. The indistinct muttering of high-ranking UN officials once again informed the world that Afghanistan is in the gravest humanitarian crisis that needs to be fought, and this requires money, a lot of money. They probably forgot that the United States has a tidy sum of $7 billion of frozen assets in Afghanistan, half of which the Americans want to transfer to the families of the victims of September 11, and the other half to the fund they created in Switzerland, allegedly designed to "provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, bypassing the Taliban.

The first "result" is obvious - Afghan banknotes were printed in Poland and handed over to the Taliban.

So, after the assassination of Zawahiri, this flow slowed down somewhat, the American generals proudly announced that, despite the fact that the Americans do not have a physical presence in the country, they are able to destroy any target in Afghanistan, read - any of the Taliban leadership.

No wonder Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Network and the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Taliban government, immediately left Kabul and took refuge in the region where he has the greatest influence - in the province Kunar in the east of the country.

But the “stick” was followed by a “carrot” – US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West visited Afghanistan; in Qatar with American officials, including the same West, met the Minister of Defense of the government of the Taliban Mullah Mohammad Yakub (the son of the founder of the movement of the one-eyed Mullah Omar), and as an apotheosis - a meeting in Doha of the head of intelligence of the Taliban with the deputy director of the CIA.

It is not known what they agreed on, but the amount of cash flowing into Afghanistan increased dramatically - in the first week of November alone, 4 packages of $40 million arrived. Shortly before this, a number of sources confirmed that the Taliban deployed over 400 militants and commanders of the ETIM, the IMU and "Jamaat Ansarullah."

With Pakistan, things were much more complicated. Firstly, the prime minister there was Imran Khan, who tried to pursue an independent foreign policy. Without hesitation, the Americans applied the old tried and tested method - they simply dumped the "obstinate" prime minister.

Three months later, Pakistan provided its territory and airspace for an attack on Zawahiri. Of course, the Pakistani authorities disowned this, but it is not necessary to be a great specialist to understand: the drone could only fly from the territory of Pakistan.

Iran, for well-known reasons, disappears immediately, UAVs simply could not fly from the territory of the states of Central Asia, from US bases and aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean - too. The Taliban were indignant for appearances, but things did not go further than this. And then, after a couple of weeks,

WHAT IS HIDDEN BEHIND THE "SELECTIVITY" OF AMERICANS?
The Moscow Consultative Meeting on Afghanistan was attended by representatives of Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The final statement states that the participating countries "want a peaceful, unified, independent Afghanistan free of terrorism and drug trafficking, and calls on the Taliban to take serious measures to fulfill their obligations to eradicate terrorism and drug trafficking and fight them resolutely to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven or a source for the spread of terrorism. The participants also declared their readiness to help Afghanistan in this area. Note that the statement does not indicate specific terrorist groups, but speaks of terrorism as a phenomenon.

As mentioned above, the Doha Agreement emphasized the fight against IS and Al-Qaeda. According to a number of experts, the agreement also included some secret clauses or verbal agreements. Based on the foregoing, it can be assumed that it was meant to counteract the growth of the presence and financing of ISIS and Al-Qaeda (only these two organizations) in Afghanistan, with full ignoring and even promoting other groups that can be used for the following purposes:

— directly against China in Xinjiang (“Islamic Movement of East Turkestan”);

— indirectly against Russia - in the Central Asian states ("Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan", "Jamaat Ansarullah");

— as an instrument of influence on Pakistan and India (“Lashkare-Taiba,” “Jaishe-Muhammad,” “Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan,” whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation));

— to destabilize the situation in the region as a whole - as a pretext for military intervention.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistan witnesses 51pc increase in terrorist attacks in a year

2022-10-22

[TheNationPK] 433 people killed, 719 maimed in country since Taliban
...Arabic for students...
seized power in Afghanistan last year.

The perils of Taliban-led regime in Kabul have become unmistakably clear for Pakistain as the country has witnessed an unbelievable 51 per cent increase in the number of terrorist attacks in a single year since the krazed killer group seized power in Afghanistan in August last year.

According to details, as many as 433 people were killed and 719 maimed in 250 terrorist attacks in Pakistain between 15 August 2021 and 14 August 2022.

In the corresponding year between 15 August 2020 and 14 August 2021, the country witnessed 165 attacks that killed 294 people and injured 598 others.

"The mindless jubilation over Taliban victory is now turning into a rude shock because the evolving security situation under the erratic Taliban rule indicates Pakistain is about to face yet another ordeal viz-aviz terrorism," according to one of the findings.

The issue quoting a United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
report says that there is no sign that Taliban regime is taking steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist groups on Afghan soil. The UN report also notes that foreign terrorist groups based in Afghanistan take the Taliban victory as a motivation to disseminate their propaganda in Central and South Asia, and globally.

Key terror outfits with active presence in Afghanistan include al-Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), and Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in Khorasan (IS-K). So far, the Taliban have acted only against the IS-K because it actively challenges the group.

The issue underlines that there is a wave of fear and panic among residents of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) over the reported return of TTP murderous Moslems from Afghanistan in recent months.

The publication quoting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that more than 300,000 Afghans have fled to Pakistain since the Taliban takeover. The figure confronts Pak authorities’ claim that about 60,000 to 70,000 Afghans have entered Pakistain since then.

Link

Afghanistan

Michael Rubin: The Taliban Are Planning Their Move On Central Asia

2022-10-03

[19Fortyfive] Throughout the two-decade U.S. war in Afghanistan, the Kremlin played a double game. President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...

Among those whom the Taliban brought to Kabul [on August 20] were Haji Forqan, the leader of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement; Mawlawi Ibrahim, the head of the Ansarullah Jamaat of Tajikistan; Shaikh Zakir, the head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; and Abdul Haq Uighuri, the head of the Al Qaeda branch in northern Afghanistan.

did not want the United States to win for that would humiliate Russia that, as the Soviet Union, lost a brutal war in Afghanistan. He also did not want the United States to lose, for that could mean the empowerment of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
and the export of its extremism into the former Soviet states of Central Asia. This led to contradictions in which Russia leveraged its influence to expel the United States from Central Asian bases and cultivated the Taliban while simultaneously facilitating logistical routes across Russian territory to keep the American war going. As far as the Russians were concerned, the ideal scenario was for both the United States and Taliban to bleed each other dry into perpetuity.

Link

Afghanistan

Islamic Emirate Rejects USIP Report Claiming Terrorists in Afghanistan

2022-09-03

[ToloNews] The Islamic Emirate denied the assessment of the US Institute of Peace that says the "Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
" has continued "to harbor a range of terrorist groups that endanger their neighbors."

According to USIP, the "Taliban" has given sanctuary to "the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), which threatens Pakistain; the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which threatens China; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which threatens Uzbekistan; and ISIS-Khorasan Province, which threatens everyone (including the Taliban)."

But a front man for the Islamic Emirate stressed that the Afghan soil will not be used against any country.

"The Islamic Emirate does not allow anyone to threaten other countries from Afghan soil. Such allegations made in this regard are not true. Unfortunately, such allegations are published without evidence or proof. It is based on inaccurate information and propaganda," said Bilal Karimi, deputy front man for the Islamic Emirate.

According to USIP, one year after the Islamic Emirate came to power, Afghanistan's neighbors in the region are coming to grips "with the reality that they now own a greater share of Afghanistan’s problems and the Taliban realize that neither recognition nor financial aid are going to come from the region easily."

The analysts give various opinions on the matter:

"The neighbors of Afghanistan are concerned and the neighbors of Afghanistan want the recognition of Afghanistan because Afghanistan then would be obliged to follow up with some international conventions. This could not be solved only via some verbal assurances by Kabul," said Torek Farhadi, a political analyst.

"If the neighbors really have concerns regarding Afghanistan, they should recognize Afghanistan,, so their concerns could be addressed," said Janat Fahim Chakari, an international relations analyst.

The assessment said that the regional powers, particularly Iran, Russia and China, were happy to see US and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
troops go but are not in a position to replace the massive amounts of development assistance.

Link

Afghanistan

Suicide bomber kills at least 100 at Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan after string of ISIS-K attacks as country descends further into chaos in wake of US withdrawal

2021-10-09

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]

Mo would be proud

Bomb blast hit the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan during Friday prayers

At least 100 people died and scores more were wounded in the blast targeting the minority Shi'ite community

It is the deadliest blast since the US withdrew, Taliban took control on August 30

Tolo News adds:

A jacket wallah detonated his explosives among worshippers in a mosque in Kunduz city on Friday afternoon during the Friday prayers, local security officials said.

The deputy minister of information and culture, Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted, "Today in the afternoon, in the Khanabad Bandar area in the capital city of Kunduz, a blast targeted a mosque belonging to our Shia citizens and martyred and maimed a number of our compatriots," he tweeted.

Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Cultural Commission of the Ministry of Information and Culture, said the attack occurred at a Shia Mosque. "A number of people have been killed and maimed. Security forces have arrived at the scene and have started an investigation into the incident," he said.

The director of the culture and information department in Kunduz says that 43 people were killed and over 140 were maimed in today’s suicide kaboom at the mosque in Kunduz city.

Local security officials said over 300 hundred people were attending the Friday prayers when the attack happened.

So while we wait for the fog of vapourized jacketwallah to disperse, at least we know the maximum possible casualty number.
From Deutsche Welle:

The so-called "Islamic State" (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, saying they had targeted the Shiite Hazara ethnic group.

A Taliban official cited by the AFP news agency said the explosion was a suicide attack. IS later said in a statement on its Telegram channels that a suicide bomber "detonated an explosive vest amid a crowd".

Another statement said that the perpetrator had been from the Uyghur Muslim minority group that the "Taliban had vowed to expel" from Afghanistan.

The Times of Israel adds:

An international aid worker at the MSF hospital in the city told AFP there were fears of further attacks.

“Hundreds of people are gathered at the main gate of the hospital and crying for their relatives but armed Taliban guys are trying to prevent gatherings in case another explosion is planned,” he said.

Ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly minority Shiite Muslims, make up about 6% of Kunduz’s population of nearly 1 million people. The province also has a large ethnic Uzbek population that has been targeted for recruitment by the IS, which is closely aligned with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

According to previous notes, IMU has training camps in Jawzjan and Faryab provinces along the Af-Pak border, one of the 20+ jihadi groups there. Their 300 or so hard boys are nestled among the large native Uzbek population. In 2011 Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari (KIB) split off to fight with the Taliban, then split again in 2015 when a group of KIB joined Al Nusra in Syria.
Courtesy of Frank G., even more from the Jerusalem Post:

A suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing scores of worshippers in the country's third attack this week on a religious institution.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that state-run Bakhtar news agency said had killed 46 people and wounded 143. Two health officials told Reuters the death toll could be between 70 and 80.

The blast, which the United Nations' mission in Afghanistan called part of a disturbing pattern of violence, follows others in recent days at a mosque in Kabul and a religious school in the eastern province of Khost.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Tajikistan fears entering extremists from Afghanistan.

2021-07-28

[KhaamaPress] Tajikistan Foreign minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin on Tuesday said that the government cannot state the exact number of refugees to be allowed from Afghanistan and will remain cautious while accepting asylum seekers from its war-ravaged neighbor.

Muhriddin fears that the supporters of terrorist groups might enter along with the people of Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Tajik government had acknowledged that the country is willing to accept up to one hundred thousand Afghan refugees as conflicts rage in the country and the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
are now controlling over 190 districts.

"We need to create certain conditions for Afghan refugees to avoid the spread of coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
in the meantime", said Muhriddin.

The Tajik Foreign Minister in the meantime expressed concern over the potential entrance of al-Qaeda, Turkistan Islamic Party,

...TIP is listed under Tehrik-e-Taliban in the Al Qaeda organization table...

and Ansarullah’s associates who are outlawed by Russia.

Jamaat Ansarullah — as opposed to all the other groups that go by Ansarullah, including the Houthis in Yemen — is the Tajikistani branch of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which fights alongside the Taliban in Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.

On Friday, the deputy of Tajikistan’s Committee for Emergency and Civil Defense said the country is assessing its potential for accepting one hundred Afghan refugees and the public is also building camps.

The optimistic call is voiced by the northern neighbor of Afghanistan after Pak high-ranking officials said that they cannot afford more Afghan refugees. The Pak officials had also seen the case as the same to Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
but the Iranian government is yet officially comment on the issue.

Link

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