Terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan remain a serious threat: The TTP, Al-Qaeda, and other groups operate with support networks inside Taliban-controlled territory, enabling cross-border attacks, particularly against Pakistan.

Europe and the international community are increasingly concerned: Senior UK and EU officials have publicly acknowledged the issue, moving beyond bilateral Pakistan-Afghanistan framing to view it as a regional and global security problem.

Calls for conditional engagement: Diplomatic recognition, sanctions relief, and aid should be tied to verifiable Taliban action against terrorist infrastructure, camps, financing, and leadership.

The warnings of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan from Pakistan have been often been framed as a bilateral conflict involving border issues, accusations of each other and differing security narratives for years. That’s a growing untenable position to take. Worry over the activities of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP is no longer limited to Islamabad, as expressed by some of the senior officials in British and European capitals recently. They are a part of a growing international field to judge what the Taliban have not been able to eradicate the infrastructure that allows cross-border terrorism.

This transition is important as the current threat from terrorists is not just a matter of numbers of fighters and isolated camps. It relies on a wider network of safe houses, training centers, arms supplies, money transfers, fake or official passports and encrypted communication and online recruitment networks. In February 2026, the UN Security Council Monitoring Team’s 37th report was released, which referred to Afghanistan as a “permissive environment” in which various terrorist groups, especially the TTP, operate. It also noted that Al-Qaida is still giving training and advice to the TTP and the availability of advanced rifle, night vision, thermal........

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