BAGHDAD — The rented home where the now-defunct Iraqi Islamic State (IS) leader known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was either blown up or blew himself up during a Feb. 3 US Special Forces raid in Syria seemed one for a family of very modest means, judging by photos later released.

IS, however, still has significant financial assets to draw on, as does its rival for international jihadist supremacy, al-Qaeda. According to a recent UN report, both groups seem to be operating and growing in Afghanistan.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan six months ago has, as many experts predicted, already reportedly led to an increase there in both al-Qaeda and IS fighters.

The 29th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council, compiled by UN experts between June and December of 2021 and released earlier this month, stated: “Although under the Doha agreement of February 2020, the Taliban has committed itself to preventing any international terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, Member States are concerned that the regime will offer a safe haven for al-Qaeda, provided that the latter does not jeopardize Taliban efforts to achieve international legitimacy.”