Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

ISIS Continues To Recruit From Af-Pak Border Region: UN Report

Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Feb, 2017 02:11 PM
    The ISIS continues to recruit from the restive Af-Pak border region even as the terror outfit is struggling financially in Afghanistan and has resorted to extortion, according to a UN report. The 19th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team about the terror group was submitted to the Security Council Sanctions Committee this week.
     
    The report noted that a UN Member State reported that ISIS had around 2,000 to 3,500 fighters overall in Afghanistan but that number had not fallen significantly despite heavy losses sustained in 2016.
     
    "ISIL (also known as ISIS) continues to be able to recruit from the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, and the increasing refugee population in Afghanistan may provide a fertile recruitment group. ISIL was aware of that possibility," the report said.
     
    Member States also confirmed that ISIS leader in Afghanistan Hafiz Saeed Khan had been killed by an air strike in July 2016. Khan was not listed as a terrorist under the UN.
     
    "Al-Qaida core leaders in the region had been decimated over the past nine years and reduced to acting as figureheads. The Al-Qaida leader, Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri is not sending people or money to affiliates and finds it very hard to communicate with them.
     
    "While the Al-Qaida core knows that it cannot leave the area, it remains hopeful that the Taliban will be successful and that it can 'piggyback' on that success," it said.
     
     
     
    The report said that ISIS is struggling financially in Afghanistan, where it has resorted to extortion of the local population and has had to stop paying its fighters at times but the lack of funds has not impacted its ambition. "Nonetheless, the lack of funds does not appear to hamper its ambition, with Member States noting that it appears to be well-equipped and uses military-grade explosives for improvised explosive device attacks in Kabul," it said.
     
    The report, however, added that during the past 12 months, the group had lost a considerable amount of territory in eastern Afghanistan and its ability to take and hold territory was also affected by clashes with Taliban fighters competing for local influence, especially for resources, funding and manpower.
     
    It added that al-Qaeda fighters and in particular "cells identifying themselves as loyal to Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent have taken on a more active supporting role in Afghanistan for Taliban groups."
     
    Fighters loyal to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, who had relocated into Afghanistan, continue to fight within Taliban groups, it said.
     
    A member state reported that the outfit Harakat-ul Jihad Islami was active in areas bordering Bangladesh and that it cooperated with al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba within the region.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Quebec City's Outspoken Talk-Radio Hosts Face Backlash After Mosque Shooting

    Quebec City's Outspoken Talk-Radio Hosts Face Backlash After Mosque Shooting
    MONTREAL — In the soul-searching that has followed Sunday's deadly mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque, the city's controversial talk-radio hosts are facing a backlash for allegedly fanning the flames of Islamophobia and intolerance. 

    Quebec City's Outspoken Talk-Radio Hosts Face Backlash After Mosque Shooting

    Trump Impact? China Tests Missile With 10 Nuclear Warheads: Report

    Trump Impact? China Tests Missile With 10 Nuclear Warheads: Report
    China Carried Out Flight Test Of The Df-5c Missile Last Month Using 10 Separate Nuclear Warheads

    Trump Impact? China Tests Missile With 10 Nuclear Warheads: Report

    Three Nova Scotia Fishermen Charged After Video Posted Showing Abuse Of Seal

    Three Nova Scotia Fishermen Charged After Video Posted Showing Abuse Of Seal
    YARMOUTH, N.S. — Three Nova Scotia fishermen face charges for the alleged mistreatment of a seal that was caught on video and posted to social media, says the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

    Three Nova Scotia Fishermen Charged After Video Posted Showing Abuse Of Seal

    Manitoba Man Who Had Heart Attack Stuck With Big Bill For Treatment In U.S.

    Manitoba Man Who Had Heart Attack Stuck With Big Bill For Treatment In U.S.
    WINNIPEG — A Manitoba man who received emergency medical treatment south of the border is going to be stuck paying the hefty bill on his own.

    Manitoba Man Who Had Heart Attack Stuck With Big Bill For Treatment In U.S.

    Trump Blasts Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull Over Refugee Deal In 'Worst' Phone Call

    Trump Blasts Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull Over Refugee Deal In 'Worst' Phone Call
    US President Donald Trump has sparked a fresh diplomatic row -- this time with Australia -- by branding a refugee deal with the country as "dumb", days after holding a heated conversation with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

    Trump Blasts Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull Over Refugee Deal In 'Worst' Phone Call

    After Trump's Ban Orders, Hijab-Clad Woman Harassed In US, Asked For 'Green Card'

    After Trump's Ban Orders, Hijab-Clad Woman Harassed In US, Asked For 'Green Card'
    Asma Elhuni, 39, noticed the man, news outlets believe to be Rob Koehler, walk into Joe's Coffee Shop and start taking pictures of her as she worked on her laptop.

    After Trump's Ban Orders, Hijab-Clad Woman Harassed In US, Asked For 'Green Card'