UN experts: `Terrorist groups’ enjoy freedom in Afghanistan

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say Al-Qaida’s past ties to the recently empowered Taliban have the potential of making Afghanistan a safe haven for extremists, and “terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history.” In a wide-ranging report circulated Monday, the experts also said extremists linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are successfully advancing in Africa, especially in the turbulent Sahel. And they said the Islamic State continues to operate “as an entrenched rural insurgency” in Iraq and Syria, where its so-called “caliphate” was defeated in 2017 by Iraqi forces and a U.S.-led coalition.