The ISI’s Art of Denial: If the Quetta Shura Didn’t Exist, Neither Do ISI’s Collection Cells in Kabul

Assad Abbas serves as an operative within the ISI’s cell at Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, a unit dedicated to monitoring and analyzing the activities of foreign NGOs and diplomatic missions in Afghanistan capital now controlled by the ex-Quetta Shura and the ex-Miramshah Shura. His role centers on observing these entities. Through calculated efforts, he has succeeded in establishing contacts within these institutions. He leverages Pakistan’s visa authority over NGO employees to recruit them as informants. Additionally, he has focused on recruiting local employees of foreign missions in Afghanistan. He manages numerous sources within the Taliban’s structure, many of whom he has known since before August 2021.