Tajikistan Plays Role In Growth Of ISIS, Claims Taliban-Linked Media
Al-Mirsaad, a media outlet attributed to the Taliban’s intelligence agency, has accused Tajikistan of intelligence cooperation with the West and "exporting ISIS terrorism to the region”.
Al-Miraaad argued that ISIS only attacks countries opposed to the West.
On Monday, the publication published an article claiming that the ISIS Khorasan fighters who carried out attacks in Afghanistan and Russia were Tajik citizens.
Tajikistan has denied the involvement of its citizens in the Moscow attack, and its president, in a conversation with the Russian president, stated, "Terrorists do not belong to any specific country or religion."
Four suspects of the attack appeared in a Russian court on Sunday with injuries, identifying themselves as Tajik nationals.
The Taliban condemned the "terrorist attack" by ISIS in Russia, suggesting the group operates under "intelligence organisations" for "defaming Islam and creating threats in the region”.
The Taliban-linked intelligence media outlet continued, stating, "Tajikistan's intelligence acts as an intelligence unit of a Western country, aiming to export ISIS terrorism in Tajik packages to the region."
Al-Mirsaad highlighted that ISIS aims to harm the Eastern bloc, citing ISIS attacks on the Russian embassy and Chinese citizens in Kabul and a missile attack on Uzbekistan as evidence.
Russia and Iran often accuse the United States of supporting ISIS to create instability in the Middle East and Central Asia, a view the Taliban seems to share.
Citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have joined ISIS more than those from other regional countries. ISIS threats against Bashar al-Assad's regime drew Iran and Russia into the conflict in Syria, linking their heavy military and economic presence there to ISIS attacks.
After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian and Central Asian officials repeatedly expressed concerns about the presence of foreign militant groups in Afghanistan. Some of these terrorist organisations maintain close relations with the Taliban, which has refused to expel foreign militants from Afghanistan.
A senior military official of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, comprising Russia and several Central Asian countries, had said in February that the presence of ISIS fighters and the Pakistani Taliban near the Tajik-Afghan border has increased.
Al-Mirsaad, citing Taliban security agencies' information, claims that "Tajikistan's intelligence has transferred some Afghans to Tajikistan and uses them for other purposes in the region."
ISIS attacks in Afghanistan and Russia have raised global concerns. Two prominent US senators have warned of the expansion of ISIS attacks as a danger signal for America and Europe.
Following recent ISIS attacks, some European countries, including Italy and France, have sought to elevate their security measures to the highest level. While Western and regional countries express concern about the ISIS threat in Afghanistan, the Taliban has repeatedly responded by claiming that ISIS has been suppressed in Afghanistan and poses no threat to the security of regional and Western countries.
