Foreign members of ISIL-K, al-Qaida entered Afghanistan via Pakistan: UN report

Almost all foreign members of ISIL-K and al-Qaida have entered Afghanistan via Pakistan and the leaders of these outfits along with those of the Taliban have been living in Pakistan, according to a new United Nations report.

The UN Monitoring report has also established symbiotic ties between ISIL-K, Taliban and al-Qaida.

"A significant part of the leadership of Al-Qaida resides in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, alongside Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent. Large numbers of Al-Qaida fighters and other foreign extremist elements aligned with the Taliban are located in various parts of Afghanistan," said UN report from Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.

Al-Qaida continued to suffer attrition during the period under review, with a number of senior figures killed, often alongside Taliban associates while co-located with them, the report said. It said the primary component of the Taliban in dealing with Al-Qaida is the Haqqani Network.

Ties between the two groups remain close, based on ideological alignment, relationships forged through common struggle and intermarriage. The Taliban has begun to tighten its control over Al-Qaida by gathering information on foreign terrorist fighters and registering and restricting them.

"The Taliban takeover of Kabul has already invited the radical/extremist/terrorist groups in the region to move into Afghanistan. The creeping aggression of Pakistan will soon turn Afghanistan into a breeding ground of terror, jeopardizing international peace and security," said Mahmoud Saikal, former Afghanistan envoy to the UN.

According to the UN report, the primary component of the Taliban in dealing with Al-Qaida is the Haqqani Network. "Ties between the two groups remain close, based on ideological alignment, relationships forged through common struggle and intermarriage."

Taliban has begun to tighten its control over Al-Qaida by gathering information on foreign terrorist fighters and registering and restricting them.

"However, it has not made any concessions in this regard that it could not easily and quickly reverse, and it is impossible to assess with confidence that the Taliban will live up to its commitment to suppress any future international threat emanating from Al-Qaida in Afghanistan," UN report said.

Al-Qaida and like minded militants continue to celebrate developments in Afghanistan as a victory for the Taliban's cause and thus for global radicalism, the report added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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