NEW DELHI: The embassies of China, Iran and India in Kabul face the specter of assault by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), which has strengthened its capability sooner than anticipated and positioned itself as the first rival to the Taliban setup in Afghanistan, in line with assessments by a number of nations.

India has had a “technical workforce” headed by a middle-level diplomat at its embassy in Kabul since late June 2022, when the nation re-established a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan after pulling out all officers within the wake of the Taliban takeover in 2021. The embassy is guarded by a contingent of a number of dozen paramilitary personnel, individuals conversant in the matter stated.

Each a report by the UN Secretary-Basic on the actions of Islamic State, issued on February 1, and a report by the UN monitoring workforce, issued on February 13, have referred to the specter of terrorist assaults by IS-KP on the embassies of China, Iran and India.

There was no instant phrase from Indian officers on these threats.

Nevertheless, the individuals cited above stated such threats had been factored into all assessments earlier than the choice was made to ship the Indian technical workforce to Kabul. The individuals identified that IS-KP poses a risk to the missions of a number of nations in Kabul and that the extent of risk within the case of sure nations was larger than that for the Indian mission.

All safety protocols are strictly adopted to make sure the security of Indian personnel in Kabul, the individuals stated. As of now, there are additionally no plans to scale back or alter the Indian presence in Kabul. A joint workforce of Indian diplomats and safety officers additionally made a low-key go to to Kabul not too long ago to make a recent evaluation six months after the reopening of the embassy, the individuals added.