Former Taliban leader confirms Pakistan’s funding of terror activities

Kabul [Afghanistan], March 17 (ANI): A former Taliban leader has revealed that Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) has received funding from Pakistan and IS central from Syria and Iraq for terrorist activities, reported Afghan Analyst, an organisation which deals with key security and political developments in Afghanistan.

Sheikh Abdul Rahim Muslimdost, a former founding member of ISKP made the above remarks in the latest interview with pro-Taliban al-Mersaad media. In a series of tweets, Afghan Analyst stated, in relation to the financing of ISKP, Muslimdost claimed that Pakistan and IS central from Syria and Iraq are providing funds for terrorist activities. He also said that initially, in 2015, Lashkar-e-Taiba provided a sum of 50 lakh Pakistan rupees to the ISKP. Citing his other source of funding, Muslimdost explained that extortion via kidnappings was another major source of terror funding.

Sheikh Abdul Rahim Muslimdost, who surrendered before the Taliban, has clarified that he was not the first Afghan who vowed allegiance to the Islamic State group in late 2014, but Mawlana Idris from Helmand, who graduated from Islamic Studies in Madina was the first to do so, he said in the interview.

On being asked why the ISKP attacked the Pakistan embassy in Kabul in December last year, Muslimdost said, “The PAK embassy attack in Kabul was just a Drama. Nothing happened to the ambassador. Just a bodyguard was injured. They want to whitewash the ISKP group.”

During the interview with a pro-Taliban media group, the former Taliban leader also clarified that those infidels or unbelievers who are employees of the embassies and of the NGOs in Afghanistan and the IEA promised security and safety to them, should not be attacked or killed, as Islam did not permit to kill them, tweeted Afghan Analyst.

Notably, 20 years after being driven from power by US forces, the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021. They oppressed women’s rights and neglected essential services during their brutal rule.

Less than ten years after the US-led invasion that overthrew the previous government in 2001, the Taliban regrouped in Pakistan and started retaking territory. The Taliban had taken back control by August 2021. They launched a quick onslaught as the United States began to withdraw its final soldiers from Afghanistan in accordance with a 2020 peace deal with the group.

Even though they promised to preserve the rights of women and communities of religious and racial minorities, the Taliban have imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law.

At the same time, fighting between Taliban insurgents and American and Afghan government forces came to a stop with the takeover. The general security situation in the nation has improved, and the number of civilian casualties has decreased. The terrorist organisation known as the Islamic State in Khorasan has upped its attacks on civilians across the nation, but violence is still pervasive.