The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The personnel of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), the Afghan Taliban spy agency, arrested a fundraiser and recruiter of foreign jihadis for the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), according to a Dari-language report. As per the GDI, the recruiter, identified as Abdul Malik, aka Al-Maliki, raised funds from several European nations for ISIS-K.
The report published by Khaama Press on October 5, 2022, describes a Twitter post in which the GDI claimed that their operatives detained ISIS-K's "fundraiser and foreign relations official." According to the report, Abdul Malik, aka Al-Maliki, was arrested during an operation.
The GDI also posted a video of a confession of the detained man on its Twitter page. Khaama Press states that it is unclear under what conditions these confessions were obtained and whether Al-Maliki might have been tortured.
In the video statement posted on GDI Twitter page, Abdul Malik stated that he is a native of Manogi district of Afghanistan's Kunar province and that he used to recruit foreign fighters for the Islamic State, in addition to being responsible for collecting funds from countries in Europe and elsewhere. Abdul Malik confessed that he collected funds for the Islamic State from Germany, Spain, and Ukraine.
In the video, Abdul Malik said that he had invited 10-15 foreigners to Afghanistan, only one of whom actually came. "The assistance [funds] I collected were 15,000 dollars from Ukraine, 5,000 euros from Germany, and approximately 1,500 euros from Spain," Abdul Malik declared in the video.
The ruling Afghan Taliban, facing an onslaught of attacks from ISIS-K, are harsh in dealing with the Islamic State in comparison to other militant organizations, and have conducted numerous operations against them, killing a large number of the ISIS-K fighters. The Taliban prefer to kill ISIS-K fighters rather than arrest them.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) hopes that by arresting ISIS-K fundraisers, it can unearth the funding network of the ISIS-K and figure out the channels through which these funds and foreign jihadis flow into Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban mujahideen seized power in mid-August 2021, ISIS-K has conducted some of the bloodiest terror attacks targeting key Taliban members and Shi'ite Hazara community members. ISIS-K attacks on soft targets like schools and mosques are a massive challenge for the Taliban government, which has so far failed to prevent such acts.
According to the report, the ISIS-K has fortified its positions in Afghanistan and is recruiting jihadi fighters in almost all of the regions of this militancy-prone country. The ISIS-K has also conducted attacks in the Taliban spiritual capital of Kandahar, indicating that it has penetrated the Taliban heartland.
Source: Telegram, October 2, 2022. The original English of the quoted text in this dispatch has been lightly edited for clarity and standardization.
The full text of this post is available to subscribers.
Please login or register to request subscription information from MEMRI
