By Smartencyclopedia with Agencies

Three years after the U.S. hastily withdrew from Afghanistan, countries across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa are grappling with a sharp rise in terrorism, according to a report by The Hill on Friday.

In August 2021, the United States ended nearly two decades of military presence in Afghanistan, a move that led to the swift takeover of the country by the Taliban. The chaotic withdrawal saw the U.S. leave behind billions of dollars worth of military equipment and weapons. In the final hours of the evacuation, a terrorist explosion at Kabul airport claimed the lives of 13 American service members.

Since the withdrawal, the Islamic State (IS) group has regained significant momentum. A July 2024 report by U.S. Central Command revealed that IS was responsible for 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria in the first half of the year, and it is “on pace to more than double the total number of attacks” compared to 2023. The resurgence of IS has led to a wave of terror incidents, including a stabbing in Germany and a foiled mass casualty plot at a Taylor Swift concert in Austria in August alone.

The escalating threat has sparked concern among foreign policy experts, who argue that the U.S. government’s response has been inadequate. Colin Clarke, a nonresident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, expressed frustration at the reactive nature of U.S. counterterrorism policies. “It takes one bomb going off in Times Square. We’re just far too reactive in our policy, and we’re not proactive enough,” Clarke told The Hill. He stressed the need for the U.S. to be better prepared for such threats, drawing lessons from the 9/11 attacks to ensure a more effective response.

The withdrawal has also had far-reaching consequences beyond Afghanistan. Weapons left behind by the U.S. have reportedly surfaced in Pakistan, raising alarms about the global proliferation of American military hardware. Experts warn that the Taliban, even if not directly using these weapons, could exploit them as a new source of income by trading with other terrorist groups.

Jonathan Schroden, director of the Countering Threats and Challenges Program at the Center for Naval Analyses, highlighted the long-term risks posed by these weapons. “When combined with the Taliban’s need for money and extant smuggling networks, that reservoir poses a substantial threat to regional actors for years to come,” Schroden said in an interview with NBC News.

As terrorism continues to rise, the global community remains on edge, facing the challenges of a post-Afghanistan world where threats are evolving and the tools to combat them are becoming increasingly scattered.