Afghanistan’s Taliban government has claimed that ISIS-Khorasan has set up a training camp in Mastung with the help of Pakistani military and is planning attacks in Afghanistan and other regions from there.
In a recent television interview, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid alleged that Pakistan’s government and military officials are providing financial support to these ISIS centers, allowing the group to operate independently in Mastung.
The claim comes amid growing concerns over ISIS activities in the region, with multiple reports suggesting that the militant group is using Pakistan as a base for its operations.
However, Pakistan has yet to issue any official response to the Taliban’s allegations.
The Taliban government has repeatedly accused Pakistan’s authorities of facilitating ISIS attacks in Afghanistan, claiming that Islamabad is using the group to destabilize the country and weaken the Afghan government.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first address to Congress after taking office, announced the capture and transfer of Muhammad Sharif Jafar, the alleged mastermind behind the deadly August 2021 Kabul airport bombing.
U.S. and Pakistani officials stated that Jafar was arrested near the Afghan border in Balochistan before being handed over to American authorities. The 2021 attack had killed 183 people, including 13 U.S. troops.
The group that Jafar’s capture in Balochistan confirms that the ISIS-Khorasan has established camps there with the help of the country’s security officials.
Pro-Taliban media outlets have dismissed the claims made by U.S. and Pakistani officials of Jafar being the mastermind behind the Kabul Airport attach, accusing both governments of using his arrest for political gains. The Taliban insists that their forces had already killed those responsible for the Kabul airport attack in an operation in Nimroz in April 2023.
According to them, the Trump administration is attempting to portray the arrest as a counterterrorism success, while Pakistan is leveraging it to strengthen its ties with the U.S.