Taliban accuse Pakistan after arrest of key IS fighters

Taliban authorities captured "key members" of the Islamic State group responsible for recent deadly attacks across Afghanistan, a spokesman said on Monday, blaming neighbouring Pakistan for harbouring the organisation.

Security has generally improved since the Taliban surged back to power after winning their insurgency in 2021, however the regional chapter of the group, known as Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), has emerged as the main challenge to their rule.

A sweeping security crackdown broadly quashed the number of domestic attacks but there was a string of shootings and bombings by IS-K this summer.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said "special forces" apprehended "key members of the insurgent group" which claimed a Kabul suicide bombing that killed six people this month.

He said the suicide attacker "infiltrated Afghanistan" from a training camp in Pakistan, while others arrested in a series of raids had also "recently returned" from there.

Mujahid said the crackdown has evicted the Sunni jihadist group from Afghanistan but they "have established new operational bases and training camps" in Pakistan.

"From these new bases, they continue to orchestrate attacks, both within Afghanistan and in other countries," he said.

The comments are likely to further fray relations between Kabul and Islamabad, which have suffered since the Afghan Taliban's return.

Islamabad blames Afghanistan for rising attacks on its territory, claiming that the Taliban government is failing to put down insurgents from the Pakistani Taliban based there.

Pakistan's foreign ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Mujahid's statement.

Pakistan, China, Iran and Russia issued a statement last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly which "expressed deep concern over the terrorism-related security situation in Afghanistan".

It named several groups, including Islamic State, which it said were "based in Afghanistan" and "continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security".

IS-K was founded in 2015 and came to prominence with a bombing during America's chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed some 170 Afghans and 13 US troops.

Analysts say the group is pivoting to more international attacks, including the killing of more than 140 people at a Moscow concert hall and more than 90 in twin bombings in Iran.

Recruitment among Central Asian nations on Afghanistan's northern border is also said to be spiking. Mujahid said a Tajik national was among those arrested in the raids.

IS-K also claimed an attack in central Bamiyan in May that killed three Spanish tourists and three Afghans, and two attacks this month that killed a total of 20 people.