Al-Qaeda activities decline in Afghanistan, but present: UN official

ISLAMABAD: Alexander Zuyev, acting UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, has said that Al-Qaeda has reduced its activity in Afghanistan, but still maintains a presence there.

In an interview with Russia’s official news agency TASS, the UN official said, “Afghanistan has traditionally been home to a variety of terrorist groups for decades. Al-Qaeda isn't very active there at the moment.”

Zuyev further said, “But it maintains a presence in Afghanistan.”

He added, “And it has a complex relationship with the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.”

The UN official went on to say, “We call them (Taliban regime) de facto authorities because we don't officially recognize them as Afghanistan's representatives at the UN, but they are the ones who govern the country."

He further said that the most active groups in Afghanistan are the ISIS branch, ISIS-K, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).