ISIS uses Afghanistan as coordination site to attack Western targets – U.S. leaks

The report said that the planned attacks included embassies, churches, business centers and even the World Cup in Qatar last summer

Afghanistan became an important coordination site for the Islamic State to plan attacks across Europe and Asia, the leaked classified Pentagon documents revealed.

According to the materials obtained by the Washington Post from the Discord messaging platform where the recently arrested Air National Guard Jack Teixeira leaked hundreds of pages of classified military intelligence, ISIS also conducts “aspirational plotting” against the U.S. The report said that the planned attacks included embassies, churches, business centers and even the World Cup in Qatar last summer.

The Post learned about nine such plots that were known to the U.S. military in December with the number rising to 15 in February. ISIS militants also considered retaliatory plots in response to Quran burnings by far-right activists in Sweden and the Netherlands, according to the leaked documents. These plans, which apparently have not been realized, included attacks on Swedish or Dutch diplomatic targets in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey and other countries.

“ISIS has been developing a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and extensive facilitation networks,” said a top secret leaked assessment attributed to the Defense Department.

“The model will likely enable ISIS to overcome obstacles — such as competent security services — and reduce some plot timelines, minimizing disruption opportunities,” the document added.

Other documents revealed continuous efforts by ISIS to create chemical weapons and operate drones. The Post also learned about their plot to kidnap Iraqi diplomats in Belgium to demand the release of 4,000 of their militants from prisons.

The revealed documents echo previous warnings about the potential for a terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021 and its subsequent takeover by Taliban. Earlier in March, General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, who oversees U.S. military operations in the region, told the House Armed Services Committee that ISIS had a stronger presence in Afghanistan than it did a year ago and could be capable of attacks outside the country within six months “with little to no warning.”