An official document has revealed that the Taliban’s General Intelligence Directorate ordered the deployment of 70 foreign Uyghur East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighters, referred to in the document as “Muslim Uyghur mujahideen,” to Badakhshan province along with dozens of weapons.
The document indicates that the letter was sent to the Intelligence Directorate of Badakhshan by the Intelligence Directorate of Baghlan Province following instructions from the Operations Deputy Directorate of the Taliban’s General Intelligence Directorate.
The document instructs local Badakhshan intelligence authorities to ensure that the deployment and presence of these fighters are kept secret.
The disclosure offers rare documentary evidence that the Taliban regime continues to host and actively relocate foreign militant networks within Afghan territory, five years after promising the world it would sever ties with international terrorist groups.
Rather than stabilizing under Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s security landscape shows state intelligence structures being utilized to shelter and redeploy groups like ETIM under a veil of official secrecy—a pattern that directly undercuts any claim of consolidated, accountable governance and adds another layer to the region’s ongoing instability.
