The ISIS-K (ISIL) group has claimed responsibility for a brazen attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that killed at least 133 people and wounded more than 100. Russia’s Interior Ministry says four detained suspected gunmen are all foreign citizens. A total of 11 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.

It is widely believed that like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ISIS-K and its allies retain a safe haven in Afghanistan, and they continue to develop their networks in and out of the country. It is said that the current Afghan government’s efforts aimed at reining in ISIS-K have been found to be insufficient.

It is about time the Russian Federation in particular hit back at ISIS-K militants who have been provided shelter and sustenance by the Afghan rulers. Both TTP and ISIS-K have deepened their footprints in Afghanistan in recent months and years with the government in Kabul either denying their presence or taking cosmetic steps against them.

Pakistan is the principal victim of TTP’s terrorist activities in its KP province in particular. Unfortunately, the Afghan government has been defying the international law by hosting a variety of foreign terrorist outfits on its soil.

In my view, the rulers in Kabul must begin to act responsibly before it’s too late. Vladimir Putin will never forgive the perpetrators of the carnage at the Moscow’s concert hall. He will also not allow the Afghan government to host ISIS-K on their soil anymore.

Rashid Ebrahim, Dubai

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024