Afghanistan Content Report: March 29 – April 4, 2025

Afghanistan Content Report

March 29 – April 4, 2025

Please note that all items in this issue concern ISIS-K

Table of contents

  1. ISIS Al-Naba Newsletter Edition 489, Published April 3, 2025
  2. Pro-ISIS Online Chatter
  3. ISIS Amaq/Nashir Statements

 

Main points (Pro-ISIS Online Chatter)

Afghanistan

  • The Taliban released an American woman from custody to the government of Qatar after President Trump demanded her release.
  • Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Alireza Bikdeli, attended an Eid al-Fitr celebration held by Abdul Kabir, acting minister for refugees and repatriation, at the Sapedar Palace in Kabul.
  • A rocket attack targeted a Taliban checkpoint in Jabal Saraj district of Parwan Province.
  • The beheaded body of a former official in the Ministry of Interior Affairs was found in Kandahar.
  • Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban foreign minister, made the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and will meet with unnamed Saudi officials.
  • A Taliban checkpoint on the Kunduz-Khan Abad highway was attacked with explosives. 

Pakistan

  • Unidentified gunmen killed Qari Abdul Rehman, a member of the banned political party Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, in Karachi.
  • Unidentified gunmen seriously injured Noorul Hadi Haqqani, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

 

1. ISIS Al-Naba Newsletter Edition 489, Published April 3, 2025

  • There were no ISIS-K news items in this week’s al-Naba.

 

2. Pro-ISIS Online Chatter

  • March 29: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram quoting Taliban spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, saying that the Taliban and the U.S. have a “shared interest” in security.

“Follow-ups. Afghan Taliban spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi: ‘Security is a shared interest between us and the United States of America.’”

 

“Follow-ups. The Taliban national government handed over an American woman they were holding to the government of Qatar following [President Donald] Trump’s recent threats demanding the release of all American detainees. They released her without any conditions other than gaining the approval of U.S. President Donald Trump.”

 

  • March 30: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram noting that Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Alireza Bikdeli, attended an Eid al-Fitr celebration held by Abdul Kabir, acting minister for refugees and repatriation, at the Sapedar Palace in Kabul.

“Follow-ups. The Taliban’s Eid celebration is not complete without a meeting with Iranian officials. Taliban officials in Afghanistan invited the Iranian ambassador to a special Eid al-Fitr celebration this afternoon.”

march 30 Pro-ISIS post on Telegram

 

  • March 30: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram stating that unidentified gunmen killed “a leader of a local Pakistani political party in Karachi” and injured another person. The deceased, Qari Abdul Rehman, was a member of the banned political party Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. See https://www.dawn.com/news/1901322. 

“Urgent. Gunmen assassinate a leader of a local Pakistani political party in Karachi, killing him and wounding his companion.

“Moment of the attack [a broken link that likely led to a video or photo posted on another Telegram channel].”

 

“Urgent. Local sources: A rocket attack targeted a Taliban checkpoint in the Jabal Saraj district of Parwan Province, Afghanistan. According to sources, the attack occurred at 9:42 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, in the Golbahar area of Parwan Province. The extent of the damage is not yet known.”

 

“Statement. Pakistani Intelligence Chief General Asim Malik: ‘The security situation in Pakistan is so dire that we are unable to reveal the true number of our soldiers killed.’”

Pakistani Intelligence Chief General Asim Malik

 

  • April 2: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram claiming that unidentified armed men kidnapped an officer in Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Urgent. Armed men kidnap a Pakistani Ministry of Interior officer while he was enjoying Eid al-Fitr vacation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His fate is unknown.”

 

“News. The beheaded body of a former Ministry of Interior official was found in the Afghan city of Kandahar.”

 

“Urgent: Gunmen attacked the chairman of the Pakistan Jamiat Party’s Shura Council, Noorul Hadi Haqqani, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, seriously wounding him.”

 

  • April 3: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram criticizing the Taliban for abandoning the concept of loyalty and disavowal, loving and hating for the sake of God, allegedly seeking to trick people into thinking that they follow the true religious path when they do not, and allying with Iran and Shiites. The post asks if followers of the Taliban know that the group is an arm of Iran.

“#Taliban | #Al-Qaeda's Guardians.

“Whenever they return to strife, they sink further into it.

“The Taliban movement has left no symbol of pure monotheism without obliterating its beacon, erasing its lights and traces, nor any manifestation of disbelief and apostasy without raising its banner, and donning its garments and cloak.

“After demolishing the explicit concept of ‘Al-Wala wal-Bara’ [loyalty and disavowal], and making peace with all enemies and rabble who fight Islam, and climbing the ladder of dissolution and disintegration, and climbing the ladders of apostasy and misguidance . . .

“Today, it is translating to us the extent of its profound deviation, the depth of its loyalty, and its close alliance with the polytheistic Rafidis [a derogatory name for Shiites]. The index fingers of the companions of the Messenger, through their prayers for their destruction, their supplications for mercy and forgiveness for them, and their sending of condolence and sympathy messages to their families . . .

“Do the loyalists fighting under the umbrella of this movement, which has turned away from the clear path and followed the path of falsehood and its approach, realize that the apostate Taliban is nothing but a new Iranian arm in the future and an integral part of the system of its Rafidi axis in the war against Muslims, and the Sunnis in particular, and the Mujahideen?

“We seek refuge in Allah from the umbrellas of sedition, both apparent and hidden.

“#White_of_Monotheists.”

  • April 4: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram claiming that an explosive device killed a Pakistani army colonel and five other soldiers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Urgent. An explosive device exploded targeting a Pakistani army patrol in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing a colonel and five soldiers.”

 

“Follow-ups. Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is visiting Saudi Arabia, where he performed Umrah [Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca] and will hold important meetings with Saudi officials.

“It is worth noting that some criticize the Syrian regime for establishing relations with the Saudi regime and praise the Taliban, whose first letter is ‘Asim’ [sic].”

Apr 4 Pro-ISIS post on Telegram

 

  • April 4: Pro-ISIS post on Telegram claiming that a Taliban checkpoint [mockingly referred to in the post as “Afghan national Taliban forces” to indicate an embrace of nationalism] on the Kunduz-Khan Abad highway was attacked with explosives. 

“Urgent. An explosion targeted a checkpoint of the Afghan national Taliban forces on the Kunduz-Khan Abad highway. The extent of the damage is not yet known.”

 

3. ISIS Amaq/Nashir Statements

  • There were no Amaq/Nashir claims of responsibility for Afghanistan between March 29 and April 4.
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