Pakistani authorities this year arrested Sultan Aziz Azzam, a spokesperson for Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), according to a recent report submitted to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
The U.N.’s 16th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that IS-K’s ability to operate in the region degraded due to several high-profile arrests by Pakistan, including that of Azzam from the border region in May.
State-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), in a separate report, said intelligence agencies arrested Azzam during an operation near the Pak-Afghan border. It claimed that Azzam’s arrest had dealt a major blow to IS-K’s propaganda arms, such as the Al-Azaim Foundation.
“Overall, the capability of [IS-K] has been degraded as a result of counter-terrorism operations,” read the U.N. report. “Key commanders and ideologues have been neutralized, and the numbers of fighters have likely been reduced. Several plotted attacks have been disrupted,” it added.
While emphasizing that the Taliban regime’s claims of terrorist groups not operating from their soil are “not credible,” it acknowledged the disruption to IS-K’s capability to operate freely on both sides of the border.
“In North Afghanistan and areas close to the Pakistani borders, [IS-K] is reported to have indoctrinated children in madressahs, establishing a suicide training course for minors around 14 years of age,” it said.
The UNSC report states that Azzam had served as IS-K spokesperson since the group’s establishment in Afghanistan in 2015. “As spokesperson, Azzam has played an instrumental role in spreading ISIL’s violent … ideology, glorifying and justifying terrorist acts,” states the UNSC. “Building on his former experience as an Afghan journalist, his activity as spokesperson has increased [IS-K’s] visibility and influence among its followers,” it adds.