LONDON: Two men suspected of joining Daesh were seized by the Taliban as they tried to enter Afghanistan last August, an investigation by The Guardian has revealed.
They are thought to be the first reported case of international recruitment by Daesh since the US and its NATO allies left Afghanistan last year.
The men, one carrying a British passport and one with another European passport, were arrested on the Uzbek-Afghan border with more than ?10,000 ($13,523) in cash, military fatigues and night-vision goggles in their bags, according to a Taliban source.
“There was one passport from England and one from another country in Europe,” the source told The Guardian, adding that both men were of Afghan descent and had used British passports to enter Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent.
It is not clear, The Guardian added, whether they had an additional European passport or whether the source was confused.
Their interception is a reminder for Western authorities that Daesh maintains an allure to some of their own citizens, despite the terror group’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria.
Hundreds of Britons traveled to Daesh’s so-called caliphate at its height, but these men represent the first reported case of international recruitment by Daesh since the Taliban took power.
Daesh’s Afghanistan presence has already proven problematic for the Taliban, having experienced a number of terror attacks, including suicide bombings — much like those they used against NATO forces and the former Afghan government — since taking over.
According to the UN, Daesh’s Afghan division has a presence in every province.
“One of the reasons people are heading to Afghanistan is simply that there is nowhere else to go. It is perhaps the most likely place for aspiring jihadists who want to see combat,” Ashley Jackson, an expert in armed groups in Afghanistan, told The Guardian.