Afghanistan has turn out to be a haven for ISIS terrorists because the US’s abrupt withdrawal in 2021 – however the US has regarded the brand new Taliban government as an unlikely ally within the fight against the jihadists, in response to the report.
The Taliban – An Islamic Fundamentalist Group That Seized Power After Withdrawal – Is Fighting Against Advances Of Islamic State-Khorasan, Also Known As ISIS-K, A High-ranking U.S. Defense Official said the Washington Post.
The official said the dueling groups of spiritual fanatics were in open warfare.
ISIS-K targets ethnic minorities and government institutions, while the Taliban retaliate by striking Islamic State hideouts.
“I might never wish to say that now we have left our fight against terrorism to a gaggle just like the Taliban, but the actual fact is that they’re putting pressure on ISIS-K operationally,” an official told the Washington Post. “In an odd world, now we have mutually helpful goals there.”
The defense official’s comments got here in response to a leaked Pentagon assessment that Islamic State terrorists are reusing Afghanistan as a staging ground for plots against America, Europe and Asia, the paper reported.
The report portrayed the resurrected threat as a growing security problem.
![Taliban security personnel speak with a flag vendor outside the Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul, April 20, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009903787.jpg?w=1024)
US intelligence findings listed specific plans to attack churches, embassies, business centers and the World Cup soccer tournament.
Pentagon officials knew of nine ISIS-coordinated plots in December and said the number had risen to fifteen by February.
The White House refused to confirm the authenticity of the assessment, even though it was marked top secret and bore the emblem of the Department of Defense organization.
Secret documents allegedly posted online under a a wider leak by Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeria, who federal authorities said shared them with friends on a personal Discord server.
![An undated photo shows Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the US National Guard who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly being involved in the leak of classified documents on the Internet, posing for a selfie in an unidentified location.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009854231-3.jpg?w=1024)
Current and former US officials told the Washington Post that the leaked reports confirm earlier warnings that terrorist cells could return to life in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration defended its counterterrorism record in an announcement to the newspaper.
America “maintains the flexibility to remove terrorists from the battlefield with out a everlasting military presence on the bottom,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told the Washington Post.
As evidence, Watson cited a U.S. Special Operations raid in Somalia that killed Bilal al-Sudani, the leader of ISIS.
![Members of the Taliban security forces inspect an alleged Daesh group hideout in Sarai-e-Shamali, Kabul's Khair Khan District, Afghanistan, November 18, 2021.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000010022774.jpg?w=1024)
![Taliban fighters stand ready in front of an Afghan A-29 Super Tucano as a group of militants secures Hamid Karzai International Airport after the end of the withdrawal of US forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009963542.jpg?w=1024)
The US-led defeat of the self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate in 2019 further complicated ISIS’s mission. Leaked documents can now not find secure locations to run from.
A senior U.S. defense official told the Washington Post that the variety of Islamic State plots has historically gone up and down. Much never happens.
“At this point, we’re seeing a variety of discussion and little motion,” the official said.