Security and safety incidents in Afghanistan rose 9 percent between May and July compared with the same period last year, though attacks by ISIS-K decreased in both scale and number, according to a United Nations report presented to the Security Council.
The UN recorded 2,658 safety and security-related incidents from May 1 to July 31. While armed opposition groups such as the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the National Resistance Front and others claimed responsibility for 47 incidents, only 19 were verified, and the UN said they posed no significant challenge to Taliban control of the country.
ISIL-K or Daesh fighters carried out fewer attacks during the reporting period, though the group remained active. Taliban intelligence forces conducted operations against ISIL-K in Kabul, Kunar and Nangarhar in June and July, killing several members, the report said. Still, ISIL-K was linked to high-profile violence, including the June 14 killing and reported beheading of a Shiite mosque imam in Badakhshan province, where attackers left an ISIL-K flag at the scene.
Cross-border tensions with Pakistan also persisted. The UN documented 14 incidents involving Taliban and Pakistani security forces, including armed clashes and shelling in Khost, Kunar, Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. In Helmand, fighting near the Bahram Chah crossing temporarily displaced about 50 families. Pakistan claimed to have killed several Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan members in border operations in July.
The UN also reported 57 security incidents directly affecting its own personnel. In May, dozens of female Afghan UN staff received death threats from unidentified individuals. The Taliban told the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that their forces were not responsible, but the perpetrators have not been identified.
The findings highlight Afghanistan’s fragile security environment nearly four years after the Taliban takeover, with ISIL-K still posing a threat, local resistance groups struggling to mount effective operations, and cross-border violence complicating regional stability.
