National Resistance Front Rejects Claims Linking ISIS Attacks to Its Opponents
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has rejected reports and narratives linking the activities of ISIS-Khorasan to opponents of the Taliban administration, describing the move as part of a “complex psychological and propaganda scenario” against it.
In a statement on Tuesday, 14 Mehr, the front said the Taliban administration was trying to hide its role in Afghanistan’s crises and instability by accusing others. The statement also stressed the continuation of the struggle for a “free, independent and terrorism-free country.”
In another part of its statement, the National Resistance Front referred to what it called a “common ideological source” and alleged that the Taliban administration and ISIS share similar intellectual foundations and strategic goals and are “two sides of the same coin.” According to the front, both groups pursue their aims through violence and extremist approaches.
The statement said: “Both groups, by resorting to unlimited violence, dogmatism and takfiri thinking, have presented a criminal face of religious beliefs and have committed the gravest crimes against our people.” The National Resistance Front also condemned ISIS activities, describing the group as alien to Islam and the culture of the people of Afghanistan.
The reaction comes after the National Resistance Front earlier said it had killed the Taliban administration’s intelligence deputy in Badakhshan in a targeted operation, adding that two of his bodyguards were also killed in the attack. A day later, ISIS-Khorasan claimed on Sunday that it had targeted a Taliban intelligence official in a motorbike-bomb attack in Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan.
Since the Taliban administration returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, a number of its opponents, including the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, have continued armed activity. Reports indicate an increase in attacks by these groups in recent months, but so far none of them has been able to establish lasting control over any area of Afghanistan.
