The enemy of my enemy: Biden admin weighs working with the Taliban to combat ISIS-K

Facing a growing global terrorist threat, Biden administration officials are debating expanding cooperation with the Taliban regime in Kabul to help track ISIS-K, the branch of the terrorist group active in Afghanistan, according to two sources familiar with the matter and a former U.S. official.

The administration and other Western governments are scrambling to keep up with the mounting danger ISIS-K poses. Before this year, U.S. and other Western officials believed ISIS-K had the intent but not the ability to orchestrate attacks abroad. But that view changed with the horrific attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue on March 22, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Europe since 2004. ISIS-K also launched a major attack in Iran this year that killed dozens, and other plots were disrupted in Europe.

But the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and declining Western influence in Africa have weakened Washington’s capacity to gather intelligence on the various offshoots of ISIS.

“We have a very, very limited ability to see what they’re doing,” said a former military officer with experience in the region.

As a result, the administration is weighing sharing more information with the Taliban about the Khorasan branch of ISIS, often referred to as ISIS-K.

The Taliban sees ISIS-K as a threat to its rule and has launched a series of attacks on the group. But there is deep distrust between the West and the Taliban after a 20-year-long war that pitted U.S.-led forces against the Afghan militants, who seized power as American troops withdrew in August 2021.

“There’s an internal debate about whether to try to work more with the Taliban,” a former senior official