Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Dari article.
The European Union says it is concerned about the presence and activities of terrorist groups with regional and potentially global reach, including the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) in Afghanistan.
EU Special Envoy Thomas Frellesen “underlined the importance that the de facto authorities [the Taliban] deliver on their commitment that Afghan territory will not be used to threaten the security of any other country,” the EU delegation in Afghanistan said in a statement Monday, as Frellesen concluded a two-day visit to the South Asian country.
The United Nations, in an August report, warned that the “ability of numerous terrorist groups to operate” in Afghanistan is an enduring threat to neighboring countries and the Central Asian region.
Pakistan Taliban Tensions
The statement said that the EU envoy to Afghanistan called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to restart talks to address their security concerns.
The Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban continue to trade accusations amid recent border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of sheltering Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which has taken responsibility for attacks inside Pakistan.
The Afghan Taliban publicly deny harboring any militant group, but a U.N. report, released in August, said the Taliban continue to support TTP.
A new U.N. report released Thursday said the cross-border violence has killed 500 people and injured more than 1,200 in Afghanistan.
Contacts with Taliban
Twenty European Union nations, including France, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden, are in favor of establishing contacts with the Taliban to return Afghan nationals whose asylum cases have been rejected or who have been involved in crimes.
No country, except Russia, formally recognizes the Taliban, who seized power in 2021.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, in an email on Thursday, told VOA the United States cautions nations against measures that could support terrorist groups, including the Taliban.
“In the United States, the Taliban remains a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group. That speaks for itself,” the spokesperson said in a statement.