Two suspected British Islamic State recruits seized by Taliban at border
Two suspected members of the Islamic state, one of them brought the British passport, confiscated by the Taliban when they tried to enter Afghanistan last fall through the North Border, Guardian could reveal.
The men, who carry more than £ 10,000 in cash, military fatigue and night vision glasses in their bags, were arrested after tips from Uzbekistan, according to the Taliban source with knowledge of surgery.
“There is one passport from England and one from other countries in Europe,” said the source. He discussed the arrest of men at the border intersection of the wicked with anonymous conditions because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.
The source of Uzbek said the two men used the UK passport when they flew to the capital city of Uzbek, Tashkent – it was unclear whether someone also had a European passport he used on the Afghan border, or whether the Taliban source was confused – and both Afghan’s inheritance.
Their interception was a striking reminder that while the West was able to end his war in Afghanistan by pulling troops, there was no simple resolution for the security threat caused by international terror groups that took refuge in their borders.
Hundreds of Britons went to underground Islam in Syria and Iraq, but this was the first time a British citizen had been intercepted by trying to join a group in Afghanistan, and the first case reported in an international recruitment effort was since the Taliban took power in the country.
Two French citizens were reported to have traveled from Central Asia to join the Islamic State in Afghanistan a few years ago, and others were intercepted in 2017 by Tajik authorities, trying and imprisoned for five years.
The affiliate of the Islamic State in Afghanistan – known as the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK), after a historic name for the area – funded well and tough.
It has done several large-scale suicide attacks in Kabul and other major cities since the Taliban took control of the country last year, and now has the presence in every province in Afghanistan, a UN senior official said in November.
The ISK is one of the few choices left for Westerners who are interested in violent extremism on behalf of Islam now that the Syrian civil war has been largely reduced to be deadlocked in the corner of the country.
“One reason why people headed for Afghanistan were only that there was no other place to go. It might be the most likely place to aspire the jihadists who want to see the battle,” said Ashley Jackson, an expert in armed groups in Afghanistan and the author of negotiations survived Life, about civil relations with the Taliban rebellion.
Last week US special forces made rare attacks in Northwest Syria to kill the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. Military operations at risk explained that Washington still saw the group as a big threat throughout the world.
The source of Uzbek confirmed that the authorities there marked the two people to the Afghan authorities because they had triggered intelligence concerns but had not violated every Uzbek law – this country had a visa-free entry for the British passport holder – and was not in the list of the desired interpol .
“In terms of visas, they are all right,” he said. “We can’t prevent them from coming in because they are English. We can’t prevent them from happening because they have Afghanistan visas.”
They told the border guards they had a family ties with Jalalabad, the capital of East Nangarhar Province, and initially claimed they were traveling to visit relatives, the Taliban source said. However, they struggled to explain their luggage.
As well as cash and military fatigue, they have packed combat vests described as “suicide vests without explosives”. When asked, the people reportedly claimed this only the things they found “interesting”.
