![Security personnel ride along a road in Kabul's Sherpur neighborhood on October 9. [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2024/12/10/48393-Afghan-security-personnel-739_416.webp)
KABUL -- Security forces continue to disrupt scattered terrorist cells struggling to maintain a presence across Afghanistan and neighboring regions.
Remnants of terrorist groups attempt to exploit gaps in the war-torn nation's security landscape, though their efforts remain largely fragmented.
"Since 2021, the power vacuum and security challenges in the country have intensified," Tehran-based Afghan political analyst Muhaiuddin Ahmadi said.
"Under these circumstances, terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's Khorasan branch [ISIS-K] have sought to exploit the instability to expand their influence and carry out terrorist operations in the region," he added.
Regional security forces have contained most threats, though isolated cells continue attempting to establish footholds in some areas.
In one recent incident, ISIS-K attacked a Sufi shrine in Baghlan province on November 23, killing 10 worshippers during their weekly ritual.
The attack, which targeted civilians at prayer, adds to a pattern of striking vulnerable locations - since August 2021, the group has claimed four other attacks on Sufi sites.
"ISIS-K is a savage terrorist group whose sole purpose is to kill the innocent and defenseless," said Mohayuddin Halimi, a resident of Baghlan. "Its actions are entirely anti-Islamic and inhuman."
Counterterror efforts continue
According to the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, these groups have attempted to "capitalize on the fragmented governance and security vacuum to establish operational sanctuaries," though their success remains limited.
Recent intelligence indicates their operations remain constrained, with counterterrorism efforts underway to prevent any permanent bases from being established.
The November assassination of Jamaat-e-Islami local chapter general-secretary Sufi Hameed in Pakistan's Bajaur district represents one of their sporadic cross-border attempts.
Analysts emphasize that coordinated international action continues to degrade these threats, with no single country bearing the burden alone.
Essential measures are already showing results.
"These include strengthening border surveillance, increasing diplomatic pressure on Afghanistan's interim government to combat terrorism and supporting humanitarian aid," Tashkent-based Afghan military analyst Mohammad Musa Hadafmand told Salaam Times.
While scattered attacks continue to affect civilians, communities remain resilient.
"Terrorists, including ISIS-K, al-Qaeda and other proxy groups, not only sacrifice innocent lives to their plots but also destroy the country's infrastructure," Kabul resident Najeebullah Saghari told Salaam Times.
"The people of Afghanistan must unite against these groups," he said.
The United States announced on Wednesday that it would impose additional sanctions on Pakistan over its ballistic missile program. The State Department said in a statement that four Pakistani entities involved in the proliferation or transfer of such weapons were targeted in the latest sanctions. The United States will continue its actions against “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems,” the department said. In response, Pakistan has described the new US sanctions as biased. On Wednesday, the country’s foreign ministry said that Pakistan’s missile capabilities are “for self-defense and stability in South Asia.” In September, the State Department imposed sanctions on five entities and one individual involved in Pakistan’s ballistic missile program. A research institute, three companies and a Chinese citizen, as well as a Pakistani entity, were targeted by Washington. The ministry said the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machinery Industry (RIAMB) has collaborated with Pakistan’s National Development Complex to provide missile engine testing equipment for the Shaheen-3 and Ababil systems, and possibly for larger systems. This comes as the Pakistani military continues to test its ballistic missiles. The Pakistani Navy announced earlier this month that it had tested a ballistic missile with a range of 350 kilometers. The missile, according to the Pakistani military, can change its speed and direction in the air using the la
ReplyThe United States has really done a good job imposing sanctions on agencies and companies that support terrorism. If you look at the above comment, the Pakistani military says it has tested a missile that can target at a distance of 350 kilometers far. The question is, for which country is Pakistan doing this? When they say that their enemy is India, why do they want to target 350 kilometers or farther? While India is also on its border and Pakistan can target with missiles of 50-100 kilometers range deep inside Indian territory. What many of the people of the world and naive Americans do not know is that Pakistan is gradually, especially after getting closer to China in recent years, reaching at a point where one day it will multiply 350 by 10 and make it 3,500 kilometers. And it will target many countries, especially the NATO member states. Although India is a country with a non-Muslim majority, it is still not bad. I am not even 1% sure that India will ever attack Afghanistan, because Indians (including Muslims and Hindus living in India) know humanity, but I am 99% sure that Pakistan will be able to do it whenever it finds its ability will attack Afghanistan, India,... NATO and the United States, and all this has been as bright as the sun in the last 46 years. We call on the international community, especially the United States, to neutralize Pakistan's terrorist nuclear weapons program as soon as possible so that both our neighbors and the world can be safe from the wicke
ReplyIt is true that the United States thinks of itself as the world's policeman, but in reality it is not aware of such dangers. Americans are emotional people and they have very pure hearts. This is not a mere claim. At a time as the United States says that, with its technology it can find a needle in a haystack, did they not know which country supported the terrorist groups during the twenty years of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan? They certainly knew that they were supported, financed and equipped by Pakistan and inside Pakistan. Believe me, one of the residents of our region said that during the presence of coalition forces in Afghanistan, one day a convoy of American tanks was passing through their village for an operation against militants, and he himself pressed the remote control of the bomb that he and his friends have installed on the road, but the remote control of the bomb did not work. And after repeated and unsuccessful attempts to detonate the bomb, they informed the Pakistani military, who were responsible for the task, that the remote controls of the bombs were not working. The Pakistanis informed their Chinese advisors. He said, after a week or two, the Chinese delivered new remotes to the Pakistani military and the Pakistani military delivered the new remotes to the Taliban group that was operating in our area. After that, the same bombs that had been installed earlier exploded when the new remotes were pressed, killing American soldiers and Afghan N
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Thank you for your information.
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There is no good strategy against terrorism.
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