Azam’s arrest in May earlier this year effectively suspended the group’s media operations, a UN report says.
Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have arrested Khariji Sultan Aziz Azam, spokesman for the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) and founder of the group’s official media wing, the Al-Azaim Foundation, according to a United Nations report submitted to the Security Council.
The findings were detailed in the sixteenth report of the UN Sanctions Monitoring and Analytical Support Team. The document claims that Azaim served as ISIS-K’s central propaganda and recruiting platform, and that the group’s media operations were suspended following Azam’s arrest.
Pakistani authorities have carried out a series of high-profile operations targeting ISIS-K operatives. Among them was Azam’s arrest on May 16, 2025, the report confirmed.
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“There have also been a number of high-profile arrests by Pakistani authorities, such as the arrest of an ISIL-K spokesperson, Sultan Aziz Azam, on May 16, 2025,” the report notes.
According to the UN assessment, Pakistan’s actions have weakened the organizational structure of ISIS-K globally. The report claims that several planned attacks have been thwarted, while the number of the group’s fighters has decreased.
“Overall, ISIL-K’s capabilities have been degraded as a result of counterterrorism operations by Pakistani and de facto authorities,” the document states.
He added that the arrest in mid-2025 of Abu Yasir al-Turki, a major figure in the group’s media and logistics network, by Turkish and Pakistani authorities may have contributed to the closure of the ISIS-K publication. Voice of Khorasan.
The document further stated that ISIS-K’s key commanders and ideological leaders have been neutralized, and that arrests such as those of Azam and Abu Yasir al-Turki have significantly reduced its operational capacity. As a result, major propaganda platforms, including Voice of KhorasanThey have been disconnected.
The report also highlighted the evolving militant landscape in Afghanistan. He said Al Qaeda continues to maintain close ties with the Taliban, with a persistent presence in several Afghan provinces. ISIS-K, however, remains the Taliban’s main adversary and continues to carry out attacks both within Afghanistan and abroad, despite losing territorial control.
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Widely considered critical of the Afghan Taliban regime, the report rejected Kabul’s claims that terrorist groups are not using Afghan soil for cross-border violence, calling the claim “not credible.”
He warned that neighboring states increasingly view Afghanistan as a source of regional insecurity, with non-state actors such as ISIS-K, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Al Qaeda and others operating in the country, some of which are believed to be using Afghan territory to plan external attacks.
