Afghanistan under Taliban rule has become a serious concern for countries and institutions engaged in counterterrorism. Neighboring and regional states, despite maintaining engagement with the group, have consistently expressed concern about the presence of terrorist organizations supported by the Taliban. These concerns have been raised repeatedly over the past four years in various meetings, and the United Nations Security Council, in multiple reports, has revealed the presence of terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda, within the Taliban regime’s structures and the establishment of training bases by this network. Most recently, security experts at the Eleventh International Scientific–Practical Conference of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO RATS) in Uzbekistan expressed concern about increasing movements of international terrorist groups from Afghanistan. According to them, these groups have once again heightened threats to the security of Central Asia. At this conference, representatives from the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Anti-Terrorism Center of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and Interpol discussed ways to combat terrorism.
The Eleventh International Scientific–Practical Conference of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO RATS) was held on Thursday and Friday of last week in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, with the participation of security experts from the United Nations, the European Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and Interpol. At the meeting, concerns were raised about the increasing activities of international terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Syria, and it was stressed that threats to the security of Central Asia have once again intensified.
Regional and international counterterrorism experts and institutions, citing warnings delivered by Shanghai Cooperation Organization officials at the Tashkent counterterrorism conference, expressed concern about attempts by terrorist groups to create “sleeper cells” and recruit members in the region.
Olarbek Sharshiyev, Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, warned that international terrorist groups have become more active in Afghanistan and Syria. According to him, these groups are seeking to establish “sleeper cells” in Central Asian countries.
The Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization stated at the meeting: “Leaders of international terrorist organizations have not abandoned their plans to deploy militants to Central Asian countries using forged documents through third countries to conduct terrorist attacks, create sleeper cells, secure funding, and carry out recruitment campaigns to expand their ranks with new members.”
Transfer of Militants to Afghanistan
Yevgeny Sysoyev, Head of the Anti-Terrorism Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States, said in a report at the conference that international terrorist organizations in the Middle East have expanded the transfer of militants to Afghanistan to increase their influence in the region. He added: “Aggressive efforts to recruit among Central Asian migrants are underway, and to this end, they have launched active online propaganda in Tajik, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and—something not previously observed—Kazakh.”
These concerns about the increasing activities of terrorist groups come amid reports by Indian media that a suspect linked to an explosion in New Delhi is present in Afghanistan. India Today reported that state investigators and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have issued an arrest warrant for Dr. Muzafar Ahmad Rather in connection with the New Delhi blast. Rather is originally from Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir and is believed to have fled India in August. Sources told India Today that he may now be in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Qasem-Shah Sekandar, Head of the Centre for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS) in Tajikistan, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that concerns about threats posed by terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and Syria have existed for years, and Tajikistani officials, including the country’s leader, have repeatedly issued warnings in this regard. According to him, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and security officials of the region also know that many terrorist groups are based in Afghanistan, and the presence of these groups in Afghanistan indicates that they have plans for Central Asian countries.
Mr. Sekandar added, “Afghanistan has turned into a safe zone for terrorist groups. Their sleeper cells may also exist in other countries. All of this is worrying, and solutions must be found to minimize the level of threats; otherwise, the possibility of forming sleeper cells in Central Asia will remain. The arrest of a leader of one of the terrorist groups by Uzbekistan also shows this reality.”
The Head of the Centre for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS) in Tajikistan emphasized that the operating method of terrorist groups is that, before conducting an attack, they position their forces in a specific area and then carry out destructive missions.
Previously, the United Nations Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, in its thirty-fifth report, stated that the Taliban have allowed al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups aligned with them to establish more bases in Afghanistan and expand their safe houses and training camps. According to the report, al-Qaeda has military and training hideouts in 14 provinces, and lower-rank members of the network live with their families in Kabul. At the same time, senior al-Qaeda leaders are based in rural areas. The report stated that the TTP, with the Taliban’s support, has established new training centers in four provinces. The East Turkistan Islamic Movement is present in Taliban-protected camps in Afghanistan, equipped with anti-tank missiles, and Jamaat Ansarullah trains Central Asian and Arab fighters in training camps in Khost and Takhar.
Representatives of special services and experts also discussed combating terrorism in cyberspace at the conference. They stated that, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, cooperation among security services in this field is expanding, encompassing measures ranging from blocking prohibited content to exchanging information on users suspected of involvement in extremist activities. However, the pace of technological adoption is almost always matched by new methods of circumventing these measures.
Altynbek Kazakanov, Kyrgyzstan’s representative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, said: “Terrorist organizations adapt themselves to new conditions, actively use cyberspace, financial and migration channels, and recruit young people into extremist activities through the Internet and social networks.”
Experts noted that due to the decreasing cost of AI-based platforms, terrorist networks are gaining access to tools that allow them to produce not only overt propaganda but also covert and manipulated content. According to their information, the share of cryptocurrencies in financing extremist groups is also increasing.
Participants at the conference described the establishment of a “Comprehensive Center for Countering Security Challenges and Threats of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States” in Tashkent as a practical response to growing threats. They said the initiative to establish this center, proposed by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, at the September Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, and approved by the organization, is considered an important step.
Members of the meeting announced that within this comprehensive center, an “Information Security Center of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” will be created, a project proposed by Kazakhstan. In addition, it has been planned that a structure to combat transnational organized crime will be established in Bishkek as a regional branch of this new center.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
سلولهای خفته در افغانستان؛ آسیای میانه زیر سایه تهدید تروریسم
