Afghanistan - A US watchdog report has alleged that terrorist groups are still operating in Afghanistan and accused the Taliban government of not doing enough to combat them as stipulated in the 2020 Doha Agreement.

The Taliban on Saturday rejected these claims, saying that no foreign groups are operating within Afghan borders.

The report was compiled by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and submitted to the US Congress.

The report says that the Taliban remains tolerant of al-Qaeda and the Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist groups.

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The watchdog also highlighted the ISIS-K assassination of a key Taliban minister, Khalil Haqqani, in December 2024 in Kabul. The attack marked the highest-profile killing of a Taliban leader since August 2021.

But Taliban Deputy Spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said no foreign groups had a foothold in Afghanistan and claimed that the Taliban security forces have effectively defeated ISIS-K, which is a regional branch of the Islamic State group.

Fitrat said that the few remaining ISIS-K members are operating in hiding and are being closely monitored by Afghan intelligence.

The US and the Taliban signed the Doha Agreement to end the 20-year US military invasion of Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

The Taliban returned to power in 2021 during a chaotic withdrawal of international forces. No country has recognized the Taliban government yet.

The US and the Taliban accuse each other of violating the terms of the agreement.