KABUL (TCA) — Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 15 welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s decision to include Daesh’s (Islamic State) Khorasan branch on its sanctions list, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
The UN said the militant group has carried out dozens of terror attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“In accordance with paragraph 13 of resolution 1822 (2008) and subsequent related resolutions, the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee makes accessible a narrative summary of reasons for the listing for individuals, groups, undertakings and entities included in the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List,” the UNSC said in a statement on May 14.
“All groups which are fighting against the brave Afghan security forces, in our perspective, they are terrorists, and those which have a role in destabilizing Afghanistan are also terrorists. We welcome the move by the UN to put the terrorists on its backlists and we hope that this process will continue so that no terror group is able to operate freely,” said Sibghatullah Ahmadi, spokesman of the Afghan Foreign Ministry.
A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs, Nusrat Rahimi, said they also welcome the move and added that Daesh’s hideouts and strongholds have been eliminated in Afghanistan.
The UN statement also states Daesh’s Khorasan branch (ISIL-K) has carried out numerous attacks since its formation.
“Daesh has targeted innocent people in their attacks in Afghanistan. I warmly welcome the decision by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on those terrorist groups whose hands are stained with the blood of the people. Daesh whether I call it a regional or ultra-regional group is involved in tragic incidents in Afghanistan. There is possibility that blacklisting of these groups will bring some changes in the situation, but I am not sure about it too much. However, the terrorist groups should be put on the blacklist and it’s a good move,” said Afghan Senator Anarkali Honaryar.
“Daesh as one of the most dangerous terrorist groups has recently started its activities in Afghanistan. Daesh’s Khorasan branch is also part of Daesh which has taken roots from Iraq and Syria. The UN has taken a good step to put it on its blacklist and this will have positive impacts to reduce Daesh’s activities,” said Azim Qoyash, a political analyst in Kabul.
On January 26, 2015, Daesh announced Afghanistan-Pakistan and nearby regions as its Khorasan province with Hafiz Saeed Khan as its governor and Abdul Rauf as his deputy — after both swore an oath of allegiance to the group’s leader Baghdadi.
On February 9, 2015, Mullah Abdul Rauf was killed by a NATO airstrike, and his replacement, Hafiz Wahidi, was killed by the Afghan security forces on March 18, 2015. Hafiz Saeed Khan, the Emir of Daesh’s Khorasan Province, was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan on July 25, 2016.
When reports initially surfaced in the media about the emergence of Daesh in Afghanistan, the Afghan political and security leadership tried to play down the rumors of growing influence of the group in the country and said it did not have the capacity to infiltrate and carry out attacks in Afghanistan.
