ISIS seen stirring in Afghanistan

Terror group weakened, still finding recruits, U.N. reports

ISLAMABAD — A U.N. report says more than 6,000 Pakistani insurgents are hiding in Afghanistan, most belonging to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban group responsible for attacking Pakistani military and civilian targets.

The report released this week said the group, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban, or TTP, has linked up with the Afghan-based affiliate of the Islamic State group. Some of TTP’s members have even joined the Islamic State affiliate, which has its headquarters in eastern Afghanistan.

The Afghan government did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the incoming president of the United Nations General Assembly announced Sunday that he was postponing a scheduled visit to Pakistan “due to some technical flight problems.”

The U.N. report said the Islamic State in Afghanistan has been hit hard by Afghan security forces as well as U.S. and NATO forces, and even on occasion by the Afghan Taliban. The report was prepared by the U.N. analytical and sanctions monitoring team, which tracks terrorist groups around the world.

The report estimated the membership of the Islamic State in Afghanistan at 2,200, and while its leadership has been depleted, it still counts among its leaders a Syrian national, Abu Said Mohammad al-Khorasani. The report also said the monitoring team had received information that two senior Islamic State commanders, Abu Qutaibah and Abu Hajar al-Iraqi, had recently arrived in Afghanistan from the Middle East.

“Although in territorial retreat, [the Islamic State] remains capable of carrying out high-profile attacks in various parts of the country, including Kabul. It also aims to attract Taliban fighters who oppose the agreement with the United States,” the report said, referring to a U.S. peace deal signed with the Taliban in February.

That deal was struck to allow the U.S. to end its 19-year involvement in Afghanistan, and calls on the Taliban to guarantee its territory will not be used by terrorist groups. The deal is also expected to guarantee the Taliban’s allout participation in the fight against the Islamic State.

The second and perhaps most critical part of the agreement calls for talks between the Taliban and Kabul’s political leadership.

Late Saturday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement saying its peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, was again shuttling through the region seeking to jump-start those negotiations, which have been repeatedly postponed as the sides squabble over prisoner releases.

U.N. VISIT OFF

Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the U.N. General Assembly last month and was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday.

But in a Twitter post, he said his visit to Pakistan’s capital would have to wait.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, tweeted in response: “I look forward to welcoming you to Pakistan soon for a constructive and fruitful visit.”

While announcing the visit Saturday, a jubilant Qureshi had said he hoped to discuss a range of issues with Bozkir, including the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety. The two often exchange fire in Kashmir, causing troop and civilian casualties.

Pakistan’s military Sunday said it shot down a small Indian drone that flew 650 feet into Pakistani-administered Kashmir. It was the the 10th such downing of an Indian drone this year. The military released photos of the drone downed near the Pandu border village.

Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained over Kashmir since last August, when India revoked the decades-old semi-autonomous status of Kashmir, which is majority-Muslim. The move touched off anger in both Indian-controlled Kashmir and in Pakistan.

Pakistan wants the U.N. to play a role in resolving the issue. After India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir in 1948, the U.N. adopted resolutions that allowed for Kashmiris to decide whether they want to merge with India or with Pakistan, or whether they prefer independence.

Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the disputed region since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.