Besides the above listed groups, a number of foreign terrorist groups and fighters operate in Afghanistan. Main groups located in the eastern provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan included:

• Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, including a number of loose splinter groups, with activities reported in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Jaish-e Momammed, based in Pakistan, with activities reported in eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
• Lashkar-e Tayyiba, with activities reported in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

These groups operate under the umbrella of the Afghan Taliban and have been involved in targeted assassinations against government officials and others.

There are also several central Asian und Uighur foreign terrorist and militant groups with fighters of Uzbek, Tajik und Turkmen ethnicity which were reported to present a significant threat in northern areas of Afghanistan, including in Badakhshan, such as:

• Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU, also known as Jundullah), with activities reported in particular in Faryab and as well as Zabul
• Jamaat Ansarullah Tajikistan
• Lashkar-e Islam
• The Salafist Group

[Anti-government elements, 4.3; Security September 2021,1.3.6; Security June 2021, 1.2.2].

For further information on human rights violations committed by by armed groups and their relevance as potential exclusion grounds, see 6. Exclusion.