U.N. envoy says Islamic State now appears present in all Afghan provinces

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Ali Khara

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday delivered a bleak assessment of the situation following the Taliban takeover, saying that an affiliate of the Islamic State group has grown and now appears present in nearly all 34 provinces.

U.N. Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the U.N. Security Council that the Taliban's response to Islamic State-Khorasan Province's (ISKP) expansion "appears to rely heavily on extrajudicial detentions and killings" of suspected ISKP fighters.