Al Qaeda, IS gaining strength in Afghanistan: UNSC report

Transnational terrorist groups - Al Qaeda and Islamic State - are growing in strength in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and could potentially pose threat to the world, said a recently launched report of the United Nations .

The 30th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, set up under UNSC Resolutions 1526 and 2253, has taken a look at the activities of Al Qaeda, the militant Islamic State (IS) group and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and the wider region and concluded that Al Qaeda and IS's threat remains high in conflict-hit regions and the neighbouring countries though both of these terrorist groups could attempt to strike in non-conflict areas, Dawn reports.

Though the report covered the activities of the terrorist groups in different parts of the world, but Afghanistan, which hosts one of IS's most thriving networks and Al Qaeda, has been of special interest especially in view of Taliban takeover, whose first anniversary will be observed next month.

"The situation in Afghanistan remains complex," the report noted, adding that terrorist groups based in Afghanistan view Taliban's military success as a "motivating factor" for propaganda in neighbouring countries and other parts of the world.

Al Qaeda and IS pose varying level of threats to international peace. IS-Khorasan, the group's Afghanistan-based chapter, is being seen as a bigger threat in the short and medium term, while Al Qaeda is a danger over the long term.