A purported secret intelligence document from the Taliban’s security apparatus alleges that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has significantly intensified its operations inside Afghanistan, with a primary focus on countering Russian and Chinese interests in the region. The communication suggests a dramatic shift in the clandestine power dynamics nearly four years after the withdrawal of American forces.
The document, reportedly a special memo from the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) dated August 23, 2025, claims the CIA is actively working against citizens and political representatives of Russia and China. According to the memo, allegedly authored by Taliban counter-intelligence chief Asadullah Baryalay, these operations are designed not only to achieve US intelligence objectives but also to simultaneously “discredit the Islamic regime” in Kabul.
According to the explosive allegations within the memo, the CIA is leveraging its historical assets, dispatching former Afghan agents back into the country. These operatives, who had previously been granted US residency through Green Cards, are said to be returning to execute specific intelligence tasks against Washington’s primary geopolitical rivals.
The timing of this alleged escalation is presented as a deliberate policy shift, potentially linked to a new US administration seeking to reassert American influence in Afghanistan. This new focus on Russia and China marks a departure from the publicly understood, albeit tense, cooperation between US intelligence and the Taliban, which has centered on combating the regional Islamic State affiliate, ISIS-K.
The implications outlined in the GDI memo are far-reaching. It warns of an expected increase in CIA attempts to recruit Russian and Chinese nationals within Afghanistan. Furthermore, it raises the possibility that the CIA could use its network of Afghan agents to infiltrate Russia and China, potentially under the guise of migrant workers, students, or business entrepreneurs seeking economic opportunities.
The leak itself highlights the deep mistrust that persists between the Taliban and Washington, even amid reports of covert American financial support for the GDI. It reveals that the Taliban is closely monitoring its supposed counter-terrorism partners, while also demonstrating a critical failure to secure its own sensitive intelligence from being exposed to the public.
Ultimately, the document portrays a Taliban leadership caught in a precarious position. Baryalay’s memo frames the CIA’s anti-Russia and anti-China activities as a direct threat to the stability of the Taliban’s rule. By delegating the matter to the GDI’s analytical wing for “further study,” it suggests that the Taliban’s counter-intelligence service currently lacks a clear strategy to counter this new dimension of the Great Game unfolding on its soil.