By Mary Kay Linge
ISIS use children to kill people in Nengrahar province. (2018)
Islamic State terrorists are using Afghanistan as a base for “aspirational plotting” against American and European targets in the wake of President Biden’s disastrous military withdrawal, according to a secret Pentagon assessment allegedly leaked by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira.
The US intelligence findings, part of a trove posted to the Discord messaging platform, discussed specific ISIS plans to hit major events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar, as well as smaller-scale attacks on churches, embassies, and other targets, the Washington Post reported.
ISIS leaders in Afghanistan were at work coordinating nine terror plots in December 2022, the assessment relates.
By February, the tally had increased to 15.
“ISIS has been developing a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and extensive facilitation networks,” the top-secret-labeled report reads.
“The model will likely enable ISIS to overcome obstacles — such as competent security services — and reduce some plot timelines, minimizing disruption opportunities,” the analysis added.
The documents described discussions with a British sympathizer willing to help ISIS construct a chemical weapon.
Other efforts reportedly included contact with a “Ukraine-based individual” with expertise in large-payload drones and outreach to engineering students in Damascus.
The leaked assessment buttressed recent testimony from Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command.
In March, Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee that ISIS-K, the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State terror group – which killed 13 US service members and hundreds of Afghans during Biden’s chaotic 2021 pullout — has been growing in strength under the Taliban’s rule.
“It is my commander’s estimate that [ISIS-K] can do an external operation against US or Western interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning,” Kurilla said.
Teixeira, a low-level 21-year-old IT technician, is accused of leaking classified documents on a small Discord group called Thug Shaker Central, whose members later distributed the documents to other groups and websites.
The Discord leaks — perhaps the largest national security breach in a decade — led Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to order a 45-day review of Pentagon document security practices, which could result in stricter rules regarding security clearances.