Before the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, it was mainly Al-Qaida that organized terror attacks on the US missions around the world. Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, including the September 11 attacks, 1998 U.S. embassy bombings and the 2002 Bali bombings. However, after the death of Osama bin Laden, Haqqani network and Taliban have taken this responsibility and have been involved in attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and its consulate in Herat province of Afghanistan.

Days after violent protest in front of consulate of Islamic Republic of Iran in Herat that resulted in death of one protestor and injury of two others, the insurgents launched an attack on the United State consulate in the same city on Friday morning killing at least four Afghans but failing to enter the compound or hurt any Americans. These two incidents may not be correlated, yet they for sure indicate growing instability in the historic province of Herat.

After the killing of bin Laden, Al-Qaida is said to have no or little presence in Afghanistan and its strength to operate against the U.S. elsewhere in the world has decline, although U.S. missions in various Islamic countries including Afghanistan are cautioned by intelligence units of possible terror attacks by Al-Qaida and other groups related to it from time to time.

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Herat should not be surprising as Taliban insurgents’ grip in certain districts of this province has been growing. From such districts, the insurgents are believed to plan their attacks in the main city of Herat. Also, insurgency flows to Herat from its neighboring province of Kandahar which is considered the heartland of Taliban regime. 

Security in Herat has been deteriorating. In July, the brother of Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Afghanistan’s national security chief, was fatally shot in a district that neighbors the city of Herat. In mid-August, insurgents killed nine construction workers and one police officer just outside the capital. Days later, militants executed six government engineers working on a road project in the province.

There is no doubt that Al-Qaida has grown weak and cannot operate in Afghanistan as it used to. But Taliban and some other terror groups that have had historic links to it, are still posing serious threats to the security in Afghanistan, region and beyond and such threats are expected to grow with withdrawal of US-led NATO troops by the end of next year.