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handle is hein.crs/goveehz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ii.formir'the dis liv% det irc11 Updated August 12, 2021 Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan Afghanistan's geography, complex ethnic composition, and history of conflict and instability have created space for numerous armed Islamist groups. This product outlines major terrorist groups affiliated and allied with Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or by the Arabic acronym Da 'esh) and the convoluted, often shifting relations between them and various other state and non-state actors, most notably the Taliban. These dynamics may inform assessments of U.S. policy in Afghanistan in light of the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement, which commits the Taliban to undertake counterterrorism efforts in return for the full withdrawal of U.S. and international military forces, scheduled to be completed in August 2021. The Taliban are not a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), but it interacts with the groups below in varying ways that may have ramifications for U.S. interests. President Joseph Biden and other U.S. officials have stated that the United States will maintain over-the- horizon capabilities to address terrorist threats after the U.S. military withdrawal. The Taliban have made significant territorial gains since May 2021; it is unclear how these gains might empower, undermine, or otherwise impact the terrorist groups below or Taliban behavior toward them. Al Qaeda Core The top echelon or core AQ leadership has been a primary U.S. target in Afghanistan since 2001. Also known as Al Qaeda Central, the core is made up of AQ leader Ayman al Zawahiri (who reportedly is ailing) and his deputies, an advisory council of about ten individuals, and members of various AQ committees such as military operations and finance. In September 2019, the White House announced that Hamza bin Laden, son of AQ founder Osama bin Laden and a rising leader in the group, had been killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. U.S. officials have argued that U.S. raids and airstrikes on AQ targets, including a large training camp discovered in Kandahar province in 2015, have reduced the AQ presence in Afghanistan. An April 2021 report from the Department of Defense (DOD) estimated that AQ core leaders in Afghanistan pose a limited threat because they focus primarily on survival. The U.S.-Taliban agreement commits the Taliban to preventing any group, including Al Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States or its allies. Taliban-AQ links date back to the 1990s, when the Taliban were in power and provided a crucial safe haven to Al Qaeda as it planned the September 11, 2001, and other terrorist attacks. Those ties have been cemented by their shared battle against international forces in Afghanistan as well as through intermarriage and other personal bonds between members of the two groups. In an April 2021 report, United Nations (U.N.) sanctions monitors assessed that AQ and the Taliban remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking ties. The Taliban claim that there are foreign fighters in areas of Afghanistan under their control, but do not appear to have taken any tangible steps that might constitute a break in ties with Al Qaeda. It is unclear how, if at all, Taliban violations of the February 2020 accord might affect U.S. policy. Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent In September 2014, Zawahiri announced the creation of a formal, separate Al Qaeda affiliate in South Asia, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS, designated as an FTO in 2016). Because of the relative geographical proximity of AQIS and the AQ core, differentiating between the two is difficult, but some key distinctions exist. Essentially, AQIS represents an attempt by AQ to establish a more durable presence in the region by enhancing links with local actors, prompted in part by the relocation of some AQ leaders to Syria. Former AQIS leader Asim Umar, who was being sheltered by Taliban forces when he was killed in a joint U.S.-Afghan operation in Afghanistan in September 2019, was an Indian national with deep roots in Pakistan; AQ core leaders are predominantly Arab. While AQIS reportedly solidified its presence in Afghanistan by embedding fighters in the Taliban, its operations have mostly been elsewhere: AQIS has claimed a number of attacks in Pakistan and Bangladesh, mostly against security targets and secular activists, respectively. According to the April 2021 DOD report, AQIS threatens U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a reflection of the group's cooperation with the Taliban, but likely does not have the means to conduct attacks outside the region. Provinces with Renorted Presence of Terror Grouns Select terror Groups AO AQS ISKP i Haqqani Network Main provinces of repor te prence as of June 2021 based on UN. reports s12021/486 and Sf0211655 Groups may conduct operationsn, other areas. Source: Graphic created by CRS. https://crsreports.congress.gov

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