Recently, the Taliban in Herat province claimed they have arrested several individuals accused of attacking Shia positions. According to the group, they detained several “instigators” and “security disruptors,” and investigations are ongoing. However, findings by Hasht-e Subh Daily indicate that ISIS has significantly infiltrated the Taliban’s intelligence apparatus.
Nisar Ahmad Elias, the Taliban governor’s spokesman in Herat, stated that during a reconnaissance operation, their forces arrested a group responsible for deadly attacks on Shias in the past eight months. He added that the detainees were accused of attacking worshippers in Mohammadia township in Guzara district.
The Hasht-e Subh Daily’s findings from Herat, confirmed by sources within the Taliban, reveal that ISIS has significantly infiltrated the Taliban, particularly its intelligence service. These findings show that on the first day of the attack on the Mohammadia mosque, five individuals were arrested from two locations in Herat province on charges of membership in ISIS.
According to the findings, these individuals were equipped with suicide vests and advanced weapons. Their presence has heightened tensions between the Taliban’s intelligence agency and the group’s governor in Herat, leading to the deployment of Unit 040 from the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul to the province.
Reliable sources in Herat report that after the Taliban arrested the five ISIS members and confiscated explosive materials and weapons from them, it became clear that funding sources were from within the Taliban. According to the sources, a team from Unit 040 of the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence arrived in Herat and began detaining groups from various Taliban departments in the province.
Sources add: “Five people were arrested from two locations, likely intending to attack a gathering or meeting attended by Taliban officials. The weapons recovered from these individuals were found to have been procured from the Herat Intelligence Directorate and supplied to ISIS members.”
Sources explain that the funding of ISIS members in Herat and the support from a faction within the Taliban’s intelligence agency in the province have increased internal tensions, prompting the intervention of Unit 040 from the General Directorate of Intelligence in Herat.
Sources emphasize: “When a unit from the General Directorate arrived in Herat, they immediately began making arrests. At least 16 individuals, including senior local Taliban members, were detained, with at least 12 of them being from the Herat Intelligence Directorate. The remaining four on the arrest list were associated with Taliban security institutions.”
However, sources clarified that the arrest of a group of senior local Taliban members in Herat has increased distrust within the group, and the recent attacks on Shias were planned by officials within the Taliban in this province.
The arrest of Taliban members on charges of affiliation with ISIS comes after sources from the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior had previously confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that ISIS has a widespread presence in all provinces of Afghanistan.
According to sources from the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, after the fall of the Republic, ISIS members and leaders, who had been sentenced to up to 16 years in prison, were released. Sources explain that during this period, ISIS has been able to recruit soldiers in all provinces of the country.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that from January to March 2024, at least 36 people were killed and 118 others were injured in ISIS attacks in Afghanistan.
In May 2024, UNAMA, in a report published at the behest of the United Nations Security Council regarding the human rights situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, stated that these attacks primarily targeted Shias.
According to this report, from January 6 to 11, three explosions in Kabul resulted in the death and injury of at least 79 civilians.
Additionally, Kamchybek Tashiev, head of the Kyrgyzstan State Committee for National Security, stated at the Commonwealth of Independent States security meeting in Bishkek that “the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan” threatens the borders of these countries.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
افزایش نفوذ داعش در میان طالبان؛ بیباوری در صفوف این گروه افزایش یافته است | روزنامه ۸صبح