Taliban Forces Able to Control ISIS Threat in Afghanistan, Says Political Spokesman

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 19, 2021. Rahmat Gul/AP Photo

The Taliban is able to control threats from the ISIS terrorist group, which has been responsible for a series of deadly attacks in Afghanistan in recent weeks, a political spokesman who serves as foreign minister under the Taliban’s new government said on Tuesday.

Amir Khan Muttaqi made the comments during talks in Doha, explaining that instability in Afghanistan was not in anyone’s interests. He also called for cooperation from the world community, saying Afghanistan would not be a base for attacks on other countries.

“[We] can control it ... has [sic] controlled it,” Muttaqi said, news agency AFP reported. “Whatever preparations they had made have been neutralized 98 percent,” he added.

ISIS terrorists have launched more than 30 attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban terrorist group seized power in August, according to experts on the matter, The National reported.

ISIS, an enemy of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including the Oct. 8 suicide bombing that killed 46 minority Shiite Muslims. Washington considers ISIS its greatest terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan.

Afghans inspect the inside of a mosque following a bombing in Kunduz province northern Afghanistan, on Oct. 8, 2021. Abdullah Sahil/AP Photo

The deadliest attack claimed recently by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), the ISIS branch active in Afghanistan, happened on Aug. 26, just days after the Taliban takeover of Kabul. The bomb attack that day outside Kabul’s airport killed 13 U.S. service members, including 11 Marines, one soldier, and one sailor, along with more than 150 Afghans.

The Taliban has promised the United States to keep the terrorist group in check during successive rounds of peace talks. Under the 2020 U.S.–Taliban accord, the Taliban guaranteed that Afghanistan would not become a haven for terrorist groups threatening the United States or its allies.

During talks in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, the United States agreed with the Taliban to provide humanitarian aid directly to the Afghan people, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price holds a press briefing on Afghanistan at the State Department in Washington, on Aug. 16, 2021. Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The two sides “discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people,” Price said, adding that the U.S. delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for U.S. citizens, other foreign nationals, and the country’s Afghan partners.

On Oct. 9, however, the Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington to contain the increasingly active ISIS terrorist group in Afghanistan.

“We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said when pressed on whether the Taliban would work with the United States to contain the ISIS affiliate. Daesh is an Arabic term for ISIS.

Isabel van Brugen contributed to this report.

From NTD News