UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Al-Qaeda’s past ties to the recently ruling Taliban have the potential to make Afghanistan a safe haven for extremists, and “terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than ‘at any time in recent history,’ UN experts said in a statement. report distributed on Monday.

In the wide-ranging report, experts also said that extremists linked to both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group are successfully advancing in Africa, particularly in the turbulent Sahel. And they said Islamic State continues to operate “like an entrenched rural insurgency” in Iraq and Syria, where its so-called caliphate ruled over significant parts of both countries from 2014 to 2017, when it took over. was defeated by Iraqi forces and a US-led coalition.

In what it called “a bright spot” in Southeast Asia, the panel said Indonesia and the Philippines had reported “significant gains” in disrupting the country’s “terrorism”. Islamic State and al-Qaeda and “some optimism” about their operational capability. “can be significantly degraded.”

The report to the UN Security Council by the group of experts monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, called for the return of the Taliban to the power on August 15 amid the chaotic final withdrawal of US and NATO troops. after 20 years the most significant event of the last six months of 2021.

The Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and were ousted for harboring al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden for orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. In a February 2020 deal which sets out conditions for the withdrawal of US troops, the Taliban had promised to fight terrorism and deprive terrorist groups of a safe haven in Afghanistan.

But the panel of experts said “there are no recent signs that the Taliban have taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country.” On the contrary, he said, terrorist groups enjoy “greater freedom”, although member states “have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan”.

Experts noted that al-Qaeda issued a statement congratulating the Taliban on their August 31 victory, but since then has maintained “a strategic silence, likely in an effort not to jeopardize Taliban efforts to gain recognition.” and international legitimacy”.

“Al-Qaeda also continues to recover from a series of leadership losses and is assessed as lacking the capability to carry out large-scale attacks abroad, which remains its long-term objective,” he said. said the panel.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was reported alive in January 2021, he said, “but member states continue to believe he is in poor health.”

Experts noted that Amin Muhammad ul-Haq Saam Khan, who coordinated bin Laden’s security, returned home to Afghanistan in late August. And they said an unnamed country reported bin Laden’s son, Abdullah, traveled in October for talks with the Taliban.

As for the Islamic State group, the panel said that while it controls limited territory in Afghanistan, “it has demonstrated a continued ability to mount sophisticated attacks, adding to the complexity of the security situation in Afghanistan.” As an example, he cited the complex attack at Kabul airport on August 27 in which more than 180 people were killed.

Member states said Islamic State’s strength in Afghanistan increased from around 2,200 to nearly 4,000 after the release of several thousand prisoners, according to the panel, which said one country believed the half were foreign fighters.

Experts said the Taliban sees ISIL “as its main kinetic threat”, which seeks to be the “main pushback force in Afghanistan with a broader regional agenda threatening neighboring countries in Central and South Asia”.

The report does not cover the killing last week of the Islamic State leader, known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in a US raid in northwestern Syria.

But experts said that, like al-Qaeda, ISIL’s leadership was “running into difficulties”. They pointed to al-Qurayshi’s failure to show himself in the last half of 2021 and Iraq’s announcement on October 11 that it had captured Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, alias Hajji Hamid, who was in charge of ISIL’s finances and considered the most senior deputy and successor to the leader of ISIL.

In its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the panel said ISIL continued to resist “sustained counter-terrorism pressure from forces in the region”. It is estimated to retain between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters and form cells and train agents to launch attacks, experts said.

Both ISIL and al-Qaeda continue to advance in Africa, particularly in the Sahel, where the panel said they have “successfully exploited local grievances and weak governance to command growing numbers of followers. and resources, despite internal divisions and rivalries”.

UN member countries remain “deeply concerned” about the success of ISIL and al-Qaeda affiliates in Africa in the last half of 2021, experts said.