IS-K spokesperson arrested by Pak authorities: UN report

Islamabad, Dec 19 (PTI) Pakistani authorities this year arrested Sultan Aziz Azzam, a spokesperson for Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), according to a recent report submitted to the UN Security Council.

The UN 16th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that IS-K’s ability to operate in the region had been degraded as a result of high-profile arrests by Pakistan, such as that of Azzam this May.

IS-K is an abbreviation for the Islamic State–Khorasan Province, a terrorist organisation active primarily in Afghanistan, Central Asia and South Asia.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan and PTV News stated that intelligence agencies arrested Azzam during an operation near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The UN report claimed that following his arrest, IS-K propaganda arms, such as the Al-Azaim Foundation, had suffered a major blow.

“Overall, the capability of [IS-K] has been degraded as a result of counter-terrorism operations,” the UN report read. “Key [IS-K] commanders and ideologues have been neutralised, and the numbers of [IS-K] fighters have likely been reduced. Several plotted attacks have been disrupted.” It further noted that IS-K’s capability to operate freely on both sides of the border has been disrupted, but acknowledged that Kabul’s claims of no terrorist groups operating in or from their soil are “not credible”.

“The Taliban contend that no terrorist groups operate in or from Afghanistan,” the report read. “Member state reporting, however, indicates that a range of terrorist groups still operate in the country, with varying degrees of autonomy and oversight from Taliban authorities.” It added: “In North Afghanistan and areas close to the Pakistani borders, [IS-K] is reported to have indoctrinated children in madressahs, establishing a suicide training course for minors around 14 years of age.” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, requested through a letter on December 8 that the report be brought to the attention of the UNSC.

The Dawn newspaper quoted the UNSC saying that Azzam held the position of IS-K spokesperson since the group first established itself in Afghanistan in 2015. According to the European Council, he operated their media branch, Al-Azaim Media.

Azzam claimed responsibility on behalf of IS-K for an August 26, 2021, suicide attack near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and circulated messages from the group following the assassination of three female journalists on March 2, 2021 and a prison attack in Jalalabad on August 3, 2020. PTI SH GRS GRS GRS