Although ISIS-K-linked propaganda outlets did not highlight various attacks
that the group conducted in Afghanistan in April, it seems clear that terror
operations perpetrated by ISIS-K continued in the country, albeit in a reduced
manner. This mirrors the developments in other regions in which ISIS-K is
active. In the past years, ISIS-core had regularly announced so-called “Ramadan
campaigns,” using the holy month of Ramadan for increased activities in several
conflict zones paired with propaganda efforts.





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Afghanistan Terrorism Report: April 2023



Afghanistan Terrorism Report: April 2023

By Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler and Joshua Fisher-Birch

Read CEP's Latest Afghanistan Terrorism Report
<[link removed]>

Following is the April 2023 installment of “Afghanistan Terrorism Report.” The
authors provide a monthly analysis concerning the developing terrorist threat
in Afghanistan as well as a comprehensive overview of that month’s al-Qaeda and
ISIS-K propaganda.



Although ISIS-K-linked propaganda outlets did not highlight various attacks
that the group conducted in Afghanistan in April, it seems clear that terror
operationsperpetrated by ISIS-K
<[link removed]>
continued in the country, albeit in a reduced manner. This mirrors the
developments in other regions in which ISIS-K is active. In the past years,
ISIS-core had regularly announced so-called“Ramadan campaigns,”
<[link removed]>
using the holy month of Ramadan for increased activities in several conflict
zones paired with propaganda efforts. However, this year no such campaign was
announced. Consequently, whileterror attacks
<[link removed]> continued in the
conflict regions where ISIS affiliates operate, for example, in theSahel region
<[link removed]>, no
significant increase in the overall operational tempo was observable.



As expected, in April, American officials confirmed that the Taliban had killed

<[link removed]>
the ISIS-K leader of the attack on theKabul airport in August 2021
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, ISIS-linked propaganda outlets did not report his death or eulogize him.
However, pro-ISIS-K propaganda outlets claimed in several posts that the
Taliban are cooperating with the United States on counterterrorism issues. One
pro-ISIS-K linked post alleged that thekilling of Ayman al-Zawahiri
<[link removed]> in
Kabul on July 31, 2022, was made possible by information leaked by Taliban
rivals of the Haqqani Network that sheltered him. This claim seems to mirror
the suggestionby some experts
<[link removed]>
that U.S. counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan depend to a certain
extent on information provided by the Taliban. ISIS-linked outlets also
highlighted the role of Pakistan in the alleged counterterrorism cooperation
between the United States and the Taliban regime. Interestingly, although
ISIS-linked outlets only highlighted a handful of attacks in April, the
majority of these were conducted in Pakistan. This could be an indication that
ISIS-K intends to increase its operational area beyond the border of
Afghanistan in the coming months.



Pro-ISIS propaganda outlets continued to attack the Taliban on ideological
grounds. One frequent theme was the activities of Iranian officials regarding
Afghanistan’s western Province of Nangarhar. Pro-ISIS outlets highlighted the
meeting betweenIran’s deputy ambassador in Kabul
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with the governor of the province and increased Iranian activities in the
health sector <[link removed]> in that area.
In addition, Iran continued to negotiate with the Taliban regime concerning the
release ofIranian prisoners
<[link removed]> in
Afghan jails and the issue of water management concerning theHelmand River
<[link removed]>, which is a central issue to both
countries. These events demonstrate the continuing attempts of the Iranian
government to develop its ties with the Taliban regime following the handover
of theAfghan embassy in Tehran
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to the Taliban at the end of February. Any developing cooperation between the
Taliban regime and Iran would further feed into the destabilization role that
Tehran is playing in the region.



Pro-ISIS propaganda outlets also mocked the participation of the Taliban at a
regional meeting in Uzbekistan, highlighting that the Taliban were only allowed
in after its first official part concluded. On April 13, 2023, the fourth
meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring states brought
together the top diplomats from China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. ATaliban
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delegation was permitted to attend only part of the meeting. Interestingly,
despite the Taliban presence, theofficial declaration
<[link removed]>
issued at the end of the conference highlighted the continuing regional and
global threat posed by a range of terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan,
such as ISIS-K, al-Qaeda, and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as
the ongoing illegal drug economy in the country. This indicates that
Afghanistan’s neighbors, including governments more open to engaging with the
Taliban regime, such as Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and China, also continue to see
a terrorism threat emanating from the country that goes beyond ISIS-K and
includes al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, despite highlighting the importance of
humanitarian assistance to the country, the official declaration did not
mention the disruption caused by the Taliban decreebanning Afghan women
<[link removed]>
from working for the United Nations in the country.



Following the announcement of this Taliban decision banning Afghan women from
U.N. employment, the United Nations decided to send all itsAfghan staff home
<[link removed]>
and toreview its operations
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in Afghanistan until May 2023. At the beginning of May, a special meeting on
the situation in Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar—chaired by U.N. Secretary General
Antonio Guterres
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and to which theTaliban were not invited
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—did not bring any progress on this issue. Indeed, in the runup to the meeting,
a statement by U.N. Deputy Secretary GeneralAmina Mohammed
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caused confusion as she seemed to suggest that official recognition of the
Taliban may be the way forward. Mohammed visited Afghanistan in January 2023.
During her trip, she had said“some progress”
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had been made on women’s rights in Afghanistan. This was an obvious misreading
of the situation since weeks after her visit, the Taliban enforced their degree
banning Afghan women from working for the United Nations.



Unfortunately, the consensus between the various stakeholders within the
United Nations to resist the Taliban decree seems to be breaking down. Some
U.N. agencieshave recalled their Afghan staff
<[link removed]> to
work, despite the continuing Taliban ban on female staff members. Furthermore,
according to a leaked email, the United Nations country team decided that all
its agencies could nowindividually
<[link removed]> decide how to
handle the situation. That the United Nations can no longer present a united
front against the Taliban regime means that the international stakeholders have
relinquished the limited leverage they had vis a vis the Taliban regime. In
essence, it seems that some parts of the U.N. structure in Afghanistan are
currently beginning to adhere to the decree. This is even more regrettable
since, at the beginning of May,U.N. experts reported
<[link removed]'%20schools.>
that increasingly female staff members of the United Nations in Afghanistan
were harassed and, in some cases, arrested by the Taliban.



Finally, as expected, Afghanistan’s overall human rights situation continues
to deteriorate. Already in November 2022, Taliban leaderHaibatullah Akhundzada
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decreed the reinstatement ofharsh punishments
<[link removed]> in the country. At the beginning
of May 2023, aUnited Nations report
<[link removed]>
highlighted the increasing use of dehumanizing methods of execution, such as
burying the condemned under a wall are used in Afghanistan.Pleas by the
international community
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to end such practices continue to be rebuffed by the Taliban regime.

Click Here For More CEP Analysis
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