The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the United Nations Security Council Committee has said in an annual report that the Taliban governance is “Pashtun-centered” and the “exclusionary and autocratic policies” of this ethnic group is the core of its rule.
According to the report, the Taliban’s bond with the terrorist groups, Al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is still strong on all sides. “The link between Taliban, Al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan remains strong and symbiotic. A range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of maneuver under the Taliban, making good use of this, and the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region,” the report says.
The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team added that groups of foreign terrorist fighters are operational and becoming more active. “There are indications that Al-Qaida is rebuilding operational capability, that TTP is launching attacks into Pakistan with support from the Taliban, that groups of foreign terrorist fighters are projecting threat across Afghanistan’s borders, and that the operations of ISIL-K are becoming more sophisticated and lethal,” the report read.
Based on the report, the majority of the Taliban’s cabinet are Pashtun ethnic and out of 34 provincial governors only five are non-Pashtun which clearly shows, “the Taliban’s Pashtunization strategy of the 1990s, although there is more variation at the district level.”
Criticizing the world’s approach, the Security Council said that Taliban officials can easily travel to any country and there are no restrictions on their travel. And the unauthorized trips of the Taliban are concerning and the world should be vigilant.
In another part of this report, it is stated that there are strong differences between the Taliban officials on the division of power and the structure of the government, and it has happened many times that there have been clashes between the power-seeking factions of the Taliban.
The report also said that there is no hope in the near future and the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region. “There is little prospect of change in the near to medium term. There are indications that Al-Qaida is rebuilding operational capability,” the report added.
On the poppy cultivation, the report of this international organization stated that it is early to begin judging the impact of the Taliban’s decree on banning drugs. “At this point, prices have increased, as has production of the more profitable methamphetamine. Key Taliban individuals remain closely involved in production and trafficking,” the report added.
This comes as since the beginning of this terrorist group; it has been feeding through cultivation and trafficking of poppy, hashish, methamphetamine.
Arash Mehrban