ISIS could take advantage of Afghanistan’s fall, says ex-MI5 chief

Jonathan Evans, a former head of MI5, has warned that the fall of most of Afghanistan to the Taliban opens up ‘operating space’ for terrorist groups to draw a psychological boost from the failure of western power.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Evans said that the jury was still out on whether the Taliban had changed but cautioned that is ISIS gets the opportunity ‘to put down infrastructure and train’ then that will pose a threat to the west more widely.

He said: “There’s also the psychological effect of the inspiration that some people will draw from the failure of western power in Afghanistan and that may well create a certain amount of of energy in the wider networks that are still in existence in Britain and across the west.

“So in practical terms, an increase in ungoverned space, but also in psychological terms this does mean an increase in threat over coming months and years.”

Evans’s comments came after a senior US government official, Jake Sullivan, said it was ‘laser-focused’ on the potential for a terrorist attack in Afghanistan by a group such as Islamic State Khorasan, also known as ISIS-K.

The White House national security adviser told NBC: “One of the contingencies we are very focused on, laser-focused on, is the potential for a terrorist attack by a group like Isis-K, which of course is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, so we will keep working to minimise the risks and maximise the number of people on planes.”

ISIS-K remains active three years after its inception, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which said the group received support from ISIS in Iraq and Syria.