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KABUL: Afghans are worried about a threat by Daesh terrorist group after a likely peace deal between the US and Taliban, with officials considering the threat “serious and dangerous”.
Kabir Haqmal, Spokesman for the National Security Council, says that some Taliban fighters would probably join Daesh after their leadership make deal with the United States, which would strengthen the terrorist group.
“Probably some small groups of Taliban will join the Daesh when Taliban reach a peace agreement with the United States. If so, Daesh will turn to a great threat,” Haqmal said.
The US and Taliban have come closer to a peace agreement in their ninth round of negotiations held in Qatar.
President Ashraf Ghani had earlier said that 20 terrorist groups are active and fight the government.
Tamim Aasi, a former deputy defense minister said that all the small terrorist groups were under Taliban umbrella and were working on religious affairs, bomb making and financial aid attraction from Persian Gulf Arab states.
He added that Taliban would not be able to fight these groups after it joins the peace process.
Haqqani network, Abdul Mannan Neyazi group, Pakistani Taliban, Jondullah, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Harakat ul Mujahideen, Islam Sarfarosh, Jamiat ul Dawa, Harakat-e- Sunnat wal Koran, Jaish-e-Mohammad and some other terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan.
The National Security Council says these groups are different with the Taliban because they lack national base in Afghanistan.
Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, a security analyst, said that most of these groups are based in Pakistan and will expand attacks in Afghanistan after Taliban peace deal.
Fighters from Uighor, Chechnya, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Arab states, Turkmen, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and other nations are fighting for these groups.
“These fighters had come to Afghanistan’s province of Badakhshan during the war against Soviets and are integrated to the society. They have got married there and have now social roots,” Yarmand said.
As the most dangerous group, Daesh has been active in Afghanistan for five years. Its fighters are counted from 700 to 3,000. According to security officials, Daesh has fighters in the provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar, Nooristan, Badakhshan, Zabul, Sar-e-Pul, Faryab and Jawzjan.
The terrorist group carries out deadly attacks in different areas. It recently claimed responsibility for a wedding reception attack in Kabul that killed around 80 civilians and injured more than 200, including women and children.
Defense Ministry however, says that Daesh has been much weakened. “The backbone of Daesh has been broken in every province. We are still fighting to uproot this terrorist group,” said Ruhollah Ahmadzai, a spokesman at the defense m inistry.
