Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
The Current

ISIS spreading into Afghanistan and Pakistan, CSIS head says

Last week, Michel Coulombe, the head of Canada's spy agency CSIS, said ISIS is now spreading to Afghanistan and Pakistan. We bring together a panel for their thoughts on whether the militant group is, in fact, making headway there.
CBC Radio ·
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and CSIS director Michel Coulombe at the Senate national security committee on Monday March 9, 2015 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The Current21:58ISIS spreading into Afghanistan and Pakistan, CSIS head says - March 16, 2015

Last week, Michel Coulombe​, the head of Canada's spy agency CSIS, said ISIS is now spreading to Afghanistan and Pakistan. We bring together a panel for their thoughts on whether the militant group is, in fact, making headway there.

Mr. Coulombe was speaking during hearings into the proposed new anti-terror bill, C-51. But the spectre he raised of ISIS spreading into Afghanistan and Pakistan is a worrisome one, suggesting that after years of war, billions of dollars spent, and thousands of dead civilians and soldiers, the region may still be vulnerable enough for ISIS to make real inroads.

Today we're asking: is ISIS billowing forward? Or is the threat overblown?

Our panel included:

Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy is a research officer with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. She joined us from Delhi, India.  

Saba Imtiaz is a freelance journalist. She joined us from Karachi, Pakistan. 

Ali Latifi is a reporter with the LA Times. We reached him in Kabul, Afghanistan.

This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal and Naheed Mustafa.

More from this episode