Terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan are growing stronger and threatening the interests of the United States and its allies as well as security in the region, according to a report released Tuesday.
The United States Institute of Peace, the congressionally-established group that published the report, said that Afghanistan is a fertile area for terrorist threats compared to the time before the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Although the Taliban pledged to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist haven after it took over the country, the Taliban is providing "material support to terrorist groups," the report states. Additionally, the Taliban's educational policies include a curriculum that promotes jihad, or a religious war, as the path to change, which researchers warn may encourage Taliban followers to perform acts of extremism outside of Afghanistan.
