Al Qaeda and Islamic State gaining ground in Afghanistan, UN reports
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A recent report from the United Nations shows that the Al Qaeda and Islamic State terror groups have been gaining more ground and influence in Afghanistan than ever before, CBN News reports. The US State Department stated recently that both the Trump and the Biden administrations failed to adequately prepare for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
According to the 27-page UN report, Al Qaeda terrorists “have greater freedom of maneuver under the Taliban” than before and “the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region,” CBN said. The UN report attests that, since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Al Qaeda affiliates have been helping the Taliban to lead in three provincial governments and have built five new terror training camps around the country: one of these camps is in Nuristan, where Al Qaeda has been training terrorists to carry out suicide attacks.
In a statement to CBN about the situation, Bill Roggio, editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s Long War Journal, explained: “The Taliban have been cooperating with Al Qaeda – has been supporting and sheltering Al Qaeda. It did it during the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, and it continues to this day.”
The UN report goes on to say that Islamic State operatives are also growing in influence, harassing and threatening non-Muslim Afghans, and Christians especially. “Afghan Christians are literally moving from house to house. They’ve switched off their phones,” Dr. Martin Parsons of the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution told CBN.
Concerning the conditions facing Christians in Afghanistan under the Taliban generally, Parsons added: “The Taliban follow a code of Islam called the ‘Hanahfi Code,’ which basically says any adult male who is deemed to be a convert, who’ve left Islam, gets three days to repent and if not, then executed. Under Al Qaeda, it’s simple execution on the spot for Christians.”
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