 "Is Pakistan training Islamic State fighters? What are the regional implications?")
Is Pakistan training Islamic State (IS) fighters?
That’s what the Afghanistan Taliban is claiming. The militant group has released a video of a captured Islamic State fighter saying he was given training in Pakistan before he crossed over into Afghanistan. The video was shared online by a channel related to Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.
It comes amid rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan over a slew of issues, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. Islamabad, which has accused the TTP of launching attacks against it, has launched airstrikes into Afghanistan.
Pakistan has demanded that the Taliban declare the TTP as a terrorist group.
The two countries on Friday agreed to continue the ceasefire and resume talks that had collapsed earlier in the week. But what do we know? And why does this matter?
What happened?
The video shows an alleged Islamic State terrorist named Saeedullah outlining how he received training in Pakistan.
Saeedullah, a Pakistani citizen from the village of Plarman in Mohmand Agency, began, “My name is Saeedullah, son of Sabz Ali and grandson of Mullah Jan.” Saeedullah said he initially studied at a madrasa in Peshawar near the Tablighi Centre linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Saeedullah said he was then sent to Pakistan’s Quetta region for ideological and combat training by a man named Osama. Saeedullah said he was provided with weapons and combat training in the mountains near Balochistan. He was also ‘brainwashed’. “In Quetta, when I went to the mountains, significant efforts were made to mentally indoctrinate me,” Saeedullah added.
Saeedullah said he returned to Peshawar after finishing the training. However, a few months later, an operative named Nusrat asked him to join the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
“When I refused, Nusrat made me a fake Afghan Tazkira (identity document) and sent me to Afghanistan posing as a refugee,” Saeedullah added. He said he crossed over into Afghanistan via the Torkham border with a fake ID stating that his name was ‘Mohammad’.
When he reached Jalalabad, he was greeted by masked men who said, ‘This is our brother from Pakistan.’ Saeedullah said he worked with around two dozen foreign fighters in Afghanistan.
Why this matters
This development has sparked controversy over Pakistan’s alleged role in sheltering and training terrorist elements.
Analysts suggest that the ongoing killing and capture of Islamic State members on both sides of the Durand Line underscores Islamabad’s complicity in perpetuating insecurity in Afghanistan.
Military expert Yousuf Amin Zazai stated, “I can say with certainty that Afghanistan is neither a source nor a hub of terrorism. These terrorists are funded from the region and operate under various names.”
Political analyst Naqibullah Noori added, “This shows that Pakistan’s claims are false, and it has now been proven that the centre of terrorist training is Pakistan and its government.”
They aren’t alone.
Earlier this year, Zalmay Khalilzad, ex-US Ambassador to Afghanistan, had warned that Pakistan will face blowback from its link to terror groups.
“Playing with terrorism for tactical purposes is a disastrous ploy that inevitably backfires very, very badly,” Khalilzad warned.
“Pakistan’s Defence Minister has characterised his country’s past support for terrorist and extremist groups as having been a mistake. So, is Pakistan no longer harbouring terrorist and extremist groups?” he wondered on X.
“For example, ISIS (Islamic State of Khorasan Province ISKP) maintains terrorist camps in the country. There are reports that in mid-March, Baluch nationalist fighters attacked an ISIS training camp in the mountains of the Mastung district close to the Bolan River in Balochistan. Allegedly, some 30 ISIS fighters, including citizens of Turkey, India, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, were killed, and the camp was destroyed.”
“If these reports are correct, their existence could not have been unknown to the Pakistani military intelligence, not if Pakistan is serious about stamping out terrorism on their soil,” he said.
His remarks came after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that Pakistan had supported terrorists outside the country for decades.
The Central Commission for Security and Clearance of Afghanistan in January said that newly recruited Islamic State fighters were being taken from Karachi and Islamabad airports to training camps in Balochistan and the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The statement added that these fighters were being trained to carry out attacks in regional countries, particularly Afghanistan.
Pakistan–Afghanistan agree to uphold ceasefire
The two countries had been holding peace talks over the past few days mediated by Turkey and Qatar.
A joint statement from all parties on Thursday agreed to continue the ceasefire and added that they will meet again in Istanbul on 6 November, where “further modalities of the implementation will be discussed and decided”.
The joint statement further said that the countries had also agreed on a “monitoring and verification mechanism” to ensure the maintenance of peace. A penalty would be imposed on the side that violates the ceasefire.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, “Just as the Islamic Emirate seeks good relations with other neighbouring countries, it also desires positive ties with Pakistan and remains committed to relations based on mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, and not posing a threat to any side.”
“All parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and impose penalties on the violating party,” said the joint statement released by Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The statement further said that as mediators, Turkey and Qatar expressed their appreciation for the “active contribution of both parties”, and the two countries will continue their cooperation with both sides for “lasting peace and stability”.
War of words continues
The Taliban’s Acting Interior Minister Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani has warned Pakistan against bringing its internal conflicts into Afghanistan, saying such attempts would “cost it dearly”. The warning was issued with regard to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), asking Islamabad to resolve its issues domestically and not impose them on Afghanistan.
“Defending our territory is among our priorities. Yet despite all this, the path of understanding remains open. But if someone commits aggression, we have fought the emperors of the world, and it is no difficulty for us to defend our territory,” TOLO News quoted Haqqani as saying.
“The problem is yours. You have the solution. So why do you link it to us? On the one hand, in order to preserve its interests, one country violates the territory of another; but Afghans have proved themselves on the battlefield, and if our forbearance is tested again, our response will be very crushing,” he added.
The joint statement came shortly after Asif — who had earlier issued a strongly worded warning to Kabul after the stalemate in talks — said that a “ray of light” was visible in the Istanbul negotiations.
Tensions flared earlier this month after explosions were heard in Kabul, and Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes in the capital and bombing a market in the country’s east.
Afghan officials on 12 October said they retaliated by targeting Pakistani military posts, claiming 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed. However, Pakistan’s military said the fighting left 23 of its soldiers dead and that its operations were targeting militant hideouts inside Afghanistan.
The clashes prompted Qatar to host emergency talks between the two neighbours, resulting in a ceasefire on 19 October.
That was followed by four days of negotiations in Istanbul that ended inconclusively on Tuesday. Since then, Qatar and Turkey have been working to bring the delegations back to the negotiating table, the Pakistani officials said.
With inputs from agencies
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