Pak-based terror outfits JeM, LeT trafficking fighters into Afghanistan: UN report

Pakistan-based terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba are engaged in trafficking fighters into Afghanistan who train and specialise in improvised explosive devices, threatening to derail the peace process in the war-torn country, according to a UN report.

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have masterminded several terror attacks against India, including the 2008 Mumbai attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack.

The 25th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, submitted to the Security Council, said Afghan officials have noted that there were several groups that, based on their operational activities and permanent presence in Afghanistan, "posed a security threat".

"Those groups were also deemed capable of presenting a future threat to peace and security should the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban reach a ceasefire," it said.

The report said among those groups posing a security threat, Afghan officials highlighted Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, JeM and LeT on which the Monitoring Team has written in previous reports.

The presence of these groups is centred in the eastern provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan, where they operate under the umbrella of the Afghan Taliban, it added.

According to Afghan interlocutors, JeM and LeT "facilitate the trafficking of terrorist fighters into Afghanistan, who act as advisers, trainers and specialists in improvised explosive devices. Both groups are responsible for carrying out targeted assassinations against government officials and others".

The report noted that LeT and JeM were stated to have approximately 800 and 200 armed fighters, respectively, co-located with Taliban forces in Mohmand Darah, Dur Baba and Sherzad Districts of Nangarhar Province.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan also maintains a presence in Lal Pura District, near the border area of Mohmand Darah, Pakistan. In Kunar Province, LeT retains a further 220 fighters and JeM has a further 30, all of whom are dispersed within Taliban forces.

The report said Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is led by Noor Wali Mehsud and his deputy Qari Amjad, not listed as designated terrorists by the UN. The group is thought to have approximately 500 fighters in Kunar and about 180 in Nangarhar.

One member state reported that the total number of Pakistani nationals fighting with terrorist groups in Afghanistan may be as high as 6,000 to 6,500, it noted.

The report further said the senior leadership of Al-Qaida remains present in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of armed operatives, Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, and groups of foreign terrorist fighters aligned with the Taliban.

"Relations between the Taliban, especially the Haqqani Network and Al-Qaida remain close, based on friendship, a history of shared struggle, ideological sympathy and intermarriage. The Taliban regularly consulted with Al-Qaida during negotiations with the United States and offered guarantees that it would honour their historical ties," the report said.

Al-Qaida has reacted positively to the agreement, with statements from its acolytes celebrating it as a victory for the Taliban's cause and thus for global militancy.

"The challenge will be to secure the counter-terrorism gains to which the Taliban have committed, which will require them to suppress any international threat emanating from Al-Qaida in Afghanistan," it said.

The report noted that the presence of Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, particularly in the form of Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, was demonstrated most clearly on September 22 when a joint US-Afghan operation targeted a suspected Taliban and Al-Qaida gathering in the Shabaroz area of Musa Qal'ah District, Helmand Province.

It was later confirmed that the leader of Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, Asim Umar, had been killed in the attack, along with several foreign nationals, including the group's deputy, its "courier" to al-Zawahiri and several foreign female members.

The report said Umar and his followers were being sheltered by local Taliban forces, some of whom had also been killed in the raid. Earlier, in June, an Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent commander, Abdul Haseeb al-Khashmiri, had reportedly been killed in another United States-led raid, this time in Ghazni Province.

The report also takes note that in October 2019, 11 Taliban were released from Bagram Airfield detention facility in exchange for three Indian engineers who had been kidnapped in Afghanistan.

Those Taliban included former shadow governors Sheikh Abdul Rahim and Mawlawi Rashid Baluch. Rahim is thought to be an appointment of the Haqqani Network, while Baluch was previously listed by the United States Department of the Treasury, which emphasised his role in “the Taliban and Al-Qaida nexus”.

From October 19 to November 15, as many as 853 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) members surrendered to Afghan Forces.

A group of some 350 fighters, including foreign fighters from India, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab Republic, were believed to have escaped to Kunar Province. Another group of approximately 150 fighters reportedly crossed back into Orakzai, Pakistan.

The Monitoring Team was later informed that, by the end of February 2020, a total of 1,442 ISIL-K members (mainly families) had surrendered following the collapse of the group in Nangarhar Province.