The Taliban's return to power in Kabul has raised fears about the potential knock-on effect that their victory will have in other parts of the world. French intelligence services believe that here the main danger is likely to come from the morale boost it will give to terrorists or potential terrorists already based in France.Matthieu Suc has spoken to members of the intelligence community to assess the potential threats following recent events in Afghanistan.
Following the fall of Islamic State's self-styled caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria back in 2018 the French intelligence services took the view that there was no other jihad zone at the time that had the “characteristics” of a “sanctuary” that could take in a mass flow of new jihadists. The Taliban's capture of Kabul just a week ago, on Sunday August 15th, inevitably arouses fears that Afghanistan could once again become a sanctuary for terrorist groups with international targets, as it was in the 1990s.
