Afghanistan evolving into terror exporter as ISIS-K recruiting people across Central Asia, Russia

The Vilayat Khorasan branch of the Islamic State is actively recruiting people from the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) into terrorist structures, reinforcing the reality that Afghanistan under Taliban rule is no longer merely a conflict zone but an emerging launchpad for terrorist recruitment, radicalisation and transnational operations.

“Vilayat Khorasan is actively recruiting militants from other terrorist organisations now, supporters from citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as well as migrant workers in Russia,” Director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services.

He said that conspiracy terrorist networks were being established in CIS countries, resource channels were being established and terrorist attacks were being planned, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

He said that the FSB, together with its colleagues from Tajikistan, identified and neutralised a terrorist cell earlier this year, which was planning high-profile attacks, he noted, adding that in cooperation with the State Security Service of Uzbekistan, five terrorist attacks in the planning stages were thwarted in various regions of Russia, including Moscow.

In this regard, Bortnikov emphasised the importance of developing counterterrorism contacts with Afghanistan.

ISIS-K recruitment stretching from Central Asia into migrant communities inside Russia demonstrates how Afghanistan is increasingly functioning as a regional hub for extremist mobilisation, manpower generation and cross-border terrorist networking.

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The expansion of terrorist cells, clandestine financing channels and attack planning structures across CIS states reflects the widening footprint of the Afghanistan-based militant ecosystem operating under a Taliban-controlled environment.

Russian cooperation with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to disrupt multiple planned attacks highlights how threats incubated in Afghanistan are translating into real-world terrorism across Eurasia.

“These warnings align with successive UN Monitoring Team, SIGAR, Russian and regional assessments identifying Afghanistan as sanctuary for over 20 terrorist organisations and 20,000–23,000 terrorists, including ISIS-K, TTP, Al-Qaeda, ETIM and affiliated networks. With estimated 2,000–3,000 ISIS-K terrorists, 5,000–7,000 TTP terrorists and continued extremist recruitment pipelines, Afghanistan increasingly resembles strategic hub for terrorist regeneration, coordination and ideological expansion,” according to a security analyst.

The analyst said that the threat was no longer confined within Afghanistan’s borders as Taliban-controlled territory was steadily evolving into an export platform for extremism, a recruitment base for militant organisations, and an operational ecosystem for the Afghan terror franchise.

“Mounting international warnings increasingly point toward same conclusion: Afghanistan under Taliban rule risks becoming principal global launchpad for ISIS-K expansion, terrorist recruitment and transnational jihadist operations,” he added.