The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
.jpg)
In a new video message, an Afghan militant commander fighting alongside the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria says that the Islamic Emirate (the Afghan Taliban's shadow government under Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor) has been acquiring arms from Iran and receiving military training there ever since ISIS emerged in Afghanistan.
The 10-minute video, which features Arabic subtitles of the militant's Pashtu-language message, was produced by ISIS's Al-Khayr Media Office and posted on archives.org, a U.S.-based website which Islamists currently routinely use for their propaganda posts.
The militant commander — identified as Abu Yasser Al-Afghani — claims he had a place in the leadership of the Afghan Taliban movement and attended their numerous meetings before joining the Islamic State. The dialect spoken by the commander shows that he is from eastern Afghanistan, most likely from the bordering Nangarhar or Kunar provinces, which are considered to be the hotbed of ISIS fighters.
"Brothers, I would like to convey to you a few messages from the mujahideen brothers from the sacred land of Syria... I also want to speak a few words about my previous jihadi period, in which we witnessed some events," says the militant, wearing a brown headscarf and traditional Afghan wainscot, in his message. He adds: "First, the Islamic Emirate was never independent and is always working under the control of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence]. Second, it never protects the rights of innocents. Third, their decision and orders are not implemented as per the Islamic shari'a.
"Following the announcement of the Islamic State, especially the Islamic State in Khorasan, they [the Afghan Taliban] inked an agreement with the infidel country, Iran, which is considered the murderer of Sunni Muslims. They started receiving training and arms from Iran," he says.
The ISIS fighter also accuses the Taliban of closing schools and seminaries in Afghanistan, especially in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province. "My message to the Muslim nation of Afghanistan and Khorasan and the youths fighting in the ranks of the Islamic Emirate is that the doors of Islamic State [ISIS] are open to you and you can always enter the ranks of the Islamic State," he says.
.jpg)
Source: Archive.org (U.S.), accessed December 8, 2015.
