Lack of robust counterterrorism strategy creates incubator in Afghanistan

KABUL -- The absence of a robust counterterrorism strategy in Afghanistan has fostered an environment conducive to the expansion of extremist groups, analysts said.

"In the last three years, there has been no serious effort to eliminate terrorist groups in Afghanistan," Tehran-based political analyst Abdul Khalil Khairandish told Salaam Times.

Neglecting to monitor the movements of such groups will have consequences far beyond Afghanistan, he warned.

"Afghan security forces lack the necessary intelligence and military capabilities to control these groups," Khairandish said. "As a result, these groups have expanded their activities."

Groups such as the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria"'s Khorasan branch (ISIS-K), al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) pose a significant threat to neighboring countries, Khairandish said.

They present a global threat as well, with three suspected members of ISIS-K who were detained in raids in Belgium charged July 7 over suspected terrorist activities, Reuters reported.

ISIS-K operatives have been arrested over the past two years in connection with terror plots or attacks in Germany, Iran, Russia and Sweden.

The lack of a proper mechanism to monitor Afghanistan-based terror groups is cause for concern, London-based Afghan political analyst Sayed Hossein Safi told Salaam Times.

"ISIS-K is a major threat to Afghanistan, the region, and beyond," he said. "Despite claims of suppressing ISIS-K, the group continues its attacks."

"The presence of ISIS-K and TTP has increased along Afghanistan's borders with Tajikistan and Pakistan, and al-Qaeda ... has re-established itself in various parts of the country."

'Valid concerns'

At a June 21 United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting, UN special representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva said the region has "valid concerns about potential threats of terrorism or extremism emanating from Afghanistan."

In the Doha Agreement, the Kabul administration pledged to prevent any terror groups from using Afghan soil to stage attacks on other countries, Kabul activist Mohammad Nasim Qayoumi, 42, told Salaam Times.

It must keep its obligations, he said.

"The lack of genuine will has prevented Afghanistan from addressing the concerns of the international community regarding terrorist groups within the country," Qayoumi added.

Afghans fear the resurgence of terrorist groups, Mazar-e-Sharif resident Mohammad Nabi Sufizada, 37, told Salaam Times.

The Kabul administration must work with the international community to address these concerns, he said.

"The people of Afghanistan have experienced more than 40 years of war and displacement," Sufizada said. "We no longer have the strength to migrate or to lose members of our families. Terrorist groups must leave Afghanistan."