Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) It is a strangely formal , yet troubling scene . A room in a far flung corner of Afghanistan where a serious lecture is happening , to an audience that seems part ideological , part curious ; some are just impoverished , hoping for a quick job . At the front of this room stands an Afghan freshly back from fighting in Syria , and intent on recruiting other Afghans to fight alongside him for ISIS . `` Brothers , I am here to tell you '' , the recruiter begins , `` about the mujahideen in Syria . '' All faces are hidden in the footage , yet the motivations are clear . This seems to be part of ISIS 's first moves into Afghanistan , a bid to bolster their ranks for the fight in Iraq and Syria by vacuuming up disgruntled former Taliban fighters -- or even just students looking for a cause . But it 's a troubling move nonetheless . There 's no shortage of battle-hardened militants here . And as NATO leaves , the Taliban looks strong if a little fractured -- and the possibility of peace talks ahead with the Afghan government could alienate some of the group 's more radical elements . The man is one of five recruiters , he says -- some foreign , others Afghan like him , spread out across the country . His message is broadly ideological . `` Jihad is now obligatory not only in Afghanistan , but also in many other places in the world , '' the recruiter tells the room . `` The Christians and Jews have not only attacked Afghanistan , but they have also attacked Muslims in Syria , Iraq and Palestine . So Jihad is obligatory on us in these places . '' His reception is mixed , but to one audience member the ideological appeal is clear . `` My aim is to fight infidels , '' the man says . `` In Syria , or if they ask me to in Afghanistan , I will . '' Another man says he would prefer to stay home and go to university , but he is attracted by the recruiter 's offer of money . `` I definitely need the money , '' he says , `` but will stay here and hope peace comes . '' Concerns are growing about how ISIS may expand into Afghanistan . When asked why ISIS might be on the rise here , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told CNN 's Fareed Zakaria : `` The reason it 's happening is because ( the ) collapse of Yemen , Syria , Iraq has created an environment where instead of one weak link in the interrelated system of states , now there are wider spaces . '' Ghani added : `` They have -- it 's one of the most well-endowed finance -- well-financed organizations . And the techniques are spreading . '' The United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan , Nicholas Haysom , told the Security Council that ISIS 's presence in Afghanistan was `` of concern , '' but was most troubling in its `` potential to offer an alternative flagpole to which otherwise isolated insurgent splinter groups can rally . '' A senior U.S. official told CNN that `` the terrain is there '' for ISIS to grow in Afghanistan . This is `` something everyone is keeping a very close eye on . Afghanistan government is concerned . Pakistan government is concerned , '' he said , before adding that disaffected Taliban might also be attracted to the group . The path to CNN 's filming with the recruiter was complex . An Afghan cameraman working for CNN was introduced at first to militants seeking to recruit fighters to assist an al Qaeda-linked group in Syria . Weeks later it emerged they were in fact working for ISIS . The group the militants say they come from -- Khorasan -- is better known as a radical part of the al Qaeda faction of al-Nusra , in Syria , where many Afghans fight . Yet ISIS experts say some of Khorasan 's militants have defected to join ISIS , and those defectors in turn sent recruiters to Afghanistan to try to bolster their ranks . At the meeting that our cameraman was permitted to film , the militants produced application forms that bear the logo of the Islamic State -- the name the group prefers to be called -- although they appeared to be using the group 's older nomenclature of ISIS on the documents . While these recruiters seek to attract fighters to Syria , their presence in Afghanistan at this pivotal time will fuel fears that the country remains vulnerable to being used as a sanctuary for a new wave of extremists .
There 's no shortage of battle - hardened soldiers in Afghanistan , according Nick Paton - Walsh . concerns are raised about how ISIS may leak into the country . A senior U.S. official fears disaffected civilians might be attracted to the group .