Taliban's Afghan takeover could inspire US extremists to plot regional attacks: FBI

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray, on Tuesday, September 21, warned that the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan could inspire US-based extremists to plot attacks on American soil. According to The Hill, Wray testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the domestic terrorism caseload has increased since 2020, from around 1,000 possible investigations to 2,700. He claimed that the extremist groups have never stop plotting attacks on the United States' soil. 

Wray said, “We are concerned that, with developments in Afghanistan, among other things, that there will be more inspiration to the first bucket”. 

“So I think we anticipate, unfortunately, growth in both categories as we look ahead over the next couple of years,” the FBI Director added. 

Separately, National National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid testified before the Committee that the terrorism threat to the country is less “acute” than it was two decades ago after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2001. But she added that preventing attacks remains a challenge because the threat is “more ideologically diffuse and geographically diverse”. Abizaid said that the US officials have been monitoring how Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) could rebuild their forces and conduct an attack on the United States. 

“In the wake of our withdrawal, the question is, at what point does that regional threat build to a capability and intent that is focused externally and particularly focused on the homeland?” Abizaid said. 

She added, “I would say from an intelligence community perspective, that’s one of our highest priorities, is just to monitor and assess the degree to which those groups actually present an external threat”. 

US 'concerned' over Haqqani's position in Taliban govt

Afghanistan had plunged into crisis last month after Kabul fell to the Taliban and the government of then-president Ashraf Ghani collapsed. Now, with no presence in the war-ravaged nation following the US withdrawal, experts have said that the United States will face a serious challenge in trying to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a breeding ground for terrorism.

It is worth mentioning that the Taliban’s new interior minister - Sirajuddin Haqqani - is the leader of the Haqqani network, which the US designated as a terrorist group in 2012. He is also wanted by the FBI for his potential connection to the 2008 attack on a Kabul hotel. The FBI Director said that the US is “obviously concerned” that Haqqani has a leadership position in the new Taliban cabinet. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: AP