More than 23,000 fighters from Afghanistan terrorist groups are operating freely under Taliban control, proving once again that Kabul has become a safe haven for global militancy. Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu issued the warning on Monday, stressing that the situation threatens both regional stability and international peace.
In his article for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Shoigu revealed that nearly 20 foreign militant organizations are entrenched in Afghanistan. Together, they command over 23,000 terrorists. He singled out ISIS-Khorasan as the most dangerous, pointing to its well-established training facilities and support bases spread across eastern, northern, and northeastern Afghanistan.
Shoigu admitted that the Taliban occasionally kill ISIS fighters, but he made it clear that the so-called Afghan government is incapable of crushing these extremists. Instead, he argued, the Taliban’s unwillingness and weakness have allowed Afghanistan to turn into a breeding ground for terrorist networks. Western sanctions may have further limited their capacity, but the core issue, according to Moscow, is the Taliban’s own duplicity.
Even worse, Shoigu accused Western intelligence agencies of transferring militants from other regions into Afghanistan and backing groups hostile to the Taliban. This, he said, is part of a wider agenda to destabilize the region. But despite these claims, it is the Taliban that have created a permissive environment where militants can regroup, train, and spread violence across borders.
The Taliban’s statements on ISIS remain contradictory and unconvincing. At one moment, they claim the extremist faction is crushed. At the next, they boast of conducting operations against ISIS cells. The United Nations Security Council has repeatedly confirmed that ISIS-K and other militant factions remain active, but the Taliban dismiss these reports in a desperate attempt to cover their failures.
Shoigu further warned that Western powers, having lost direct influence in Afghanistan, are preparing to rebuild NATO’s military infrastructure nearby. He highlighted the frequent visits of American, British, and German envoys to Kabul, despite their governments refusing to officially recognize Taliban rule. These visits, Moscow believes, expose a dangerous double game.
A recent United Nations report also slammed the Taliban for providing space to foreign terrorist groups. The findings revealed several al-Qaeda-linked training camps inside Afghanistan, including three new centers where al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters are reportedly being trained. Such developments confirm that Afghanistan under Taliban control remains the heart of international terrorism.
The Russian warning underscores a grim reality: Afghanistan terrorist groups are not just surviving but thriving under Taliban protection. The world is witnessing the rebirth of Afghanistan as a hub of global extremism, with catastrophic consequences for its neighbors and beyond.
