Isis Presence In Afghanistan: A Growing Concern

ISIS-K, the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate, is a sworn enemy of the Taliban. The group has been in Afghanistan since at least 2014 and has carried out dozens of attacks in the country, including a 2020 strike on a maternity hospital in Kabul that killed at least 24 people. The number of ISIS-K fighters is estimated to be at least 2,000, with some sources placing the number between 1,500 and 5,000. In August 2021, ISIS-K killed 13 US service members and injured 18 more in two bomb attacks outside Kabul airport.

ISIS-K is a regional Islamic State affiliate and a major rival to the Taliban in Afghanistan

ISIS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan Province, is a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group. It operates primarily in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region but has a presence throughout the historical "Khorasan", which includes parts of modern-day nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and other Central Asian countries. ISIS-K was established in 2015 and aspires to establish a physical "caliphate" governed under strict Islamic Sharia law in the South and Central Asian region.

ISIS-K is a sworn enemy of the Taliban and has been responsible for numerous attacks in Afghanistan, including the 2021 Kabul airport attack that killed 13 American military personnel and at least 169 Afghans. The group's primary targets are Taliban personnel, but it also regularly attacks civilians, foreign aid workers, and religious and ethnic minority groups.

ISIS-K's beliefs follow the ideology of its parent organization, the Islamic State group, which promotes an extreme interpretation of Islam and sees secular government actors and non-Muslim and Muslim minority civilian populations as legitimate targets. The group is known for its extreme brutality and has targeted government institutions, mosques, educational institutions, and public spaces.

ISIS-K's objectives include diminishing the Taliban's legitimacy in Afghanistan, asserting itself as the rightful leader of the Muslim community, and emerging as the principal regional adversary to regimes it deems oppressive. The group has sought to fill the gap left by the Taliban's transition from an insurgency group to a governing entity, aiming to become the unifying force for militant factions in Afghanistan.

ISIS-K has a membership of approximately 2,000 fighters and is known for staging suicide attacks. The group has been relatively silent following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul but is believed to be assessing the situation and working to establish safe shelters for its members. Despite territorial and leadership losses, ISIS-K remains a potent threat and is expected to attempt to exploit the Taliban's governance challenges to increase its relevance and sow discord.

ISIS-K has carried out numerous attacks on Hazara Shias and other religious minorities

ISIS-K, the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate, has carried out numerous attacks on Hazara Shias and other religious minorities. The group first emerged in 2015 and has since perpetrated several assaults on the Hazara community, a minority Shia group in Afghanistan.

In May 2020, ISIS-K gunmen attacked a maternity hospital in a majority Shia neighbourhood in Kabul, killing at least 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers. The group has also targeted educational institutions, such as the Sayed al-Shuhada school in the Dasht-e Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul. In May 2021, three explosions at the school killed at least 85 people, including 42 girls and 28 women, and injured over 200, mostly from the Hazara community.

ISIS-K has also carried out attacks on Shia mosques in Afghanistan. In October 2021, a suicide bombing during Friday prayers at the Bibi Fatima mosque in Kandahar killed at least 63 people and injured 83 others. The group has further targeted Shia Muslims during the month of Muharram, a sacred month for Shia Muslims. In September 2022, a suicide bombing in an educational facility in a Shia area of Kabul killed 53 students and injured 110 others.

In addition to the Hazara Shia community, ISIS-K has also targeted other religious minorities in Afghanistan. In June 2021, the group killed at least two people and wounded seven others during an assault on the last remaining Sikh temple in Kabul. The group has also issued statements threatening Shia Muslims and declaring its intention to target them.

The attacks by ISIS-K on the Hazara Shias and other religious minorities in Afghanistan have caused widespread fear and insecurity among these communities. The Taliban, who currently control most of Afghanistan, have been criticised for failing to provide adequate protection to these vulnerable groups and prevent attacks by ISIS-K.

ISIS-K has been deemed a credible threat to the US and its allies by the US government

ISIS-K, also known as the Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan, or ISIS-Khorasan, is the Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan. The group is an enemy of both the Taliban and the United States.

ISIS-K was founded in 2015 by disaffected members of the Pakistani Taliban, who then embraced a more violent version of Islam. The group has been responsible for several attacks, including the May 2020 strike on a maternity hospital in Kabul that killed at least 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers. In August 2021, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians.

ISIS-K has been deemed a credible threat to the U.S. and its allies by the U.S. government. In the wake of the August 2021 attack, President Joe Biden said that ISIS-K "will not win" and vowed to continue targeting the group. U.S. officials have expressed concerns about the potential for further attacks by ISIS-K, particularly during the evacuation efforts in Afghanistan. A senior U.S. official confirmed that the U.S. was tracking a “specific” and “credible" threat at the Kabul airport from ISIS-K.

ISIS-K's ability to carry out attacks and its aspirations to establish a caliphate make it a significant security threat. The group is believed to have around 2,000 members and has a presence in several provinces in Afghanistan. Its leaders have denounced the Taliban's takeover of the country and aim to erode the Taliban's governance and religious legitimacy.

The U.S. government's response to the ISIS-K threat has included drone strikes and other counterterrorism measures. However, there are concerns about the effectiveness of these actions, and some experts argue that expanding counterterror operations may not be the most efficient way to protect U.S. interests. Instead, a more targeted approach, such as destroying munitions stocks and degrading targeting capabilities, may be more effective in containing ISIS-K.

ISIS-K was formed by disaffected Pakistani Taliban and a few Afghan Taliban members

ISIS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan Province, is an offshoot of ISIS, the terrorist group that once controlled territory in Iraq and Syria. ISIS-K was formed in 2014 or 2015 by disaffected Pakistani Taliban fighters and a few Afghan Taliban members. The group's membership has included Pakistani militants who were based in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, just across the border from Pakistan. ISIS-K is believed to have around 2,000 members and is known for its extreme brutality and fanaticism.

ISIS-K is a sworn enemy of the Taliban and the United States, and it seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate in South and Central Asia, governed by Sharia law. The group's ideology is more radical than that of the Taliban, whom they view as impure and not extremist enough. ISIS-K disregards international borders and envisions its territory as transcending nation-states like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

ISIS-K has carried out numerous attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, targeting civilians, security forces, and democratic processes. The group was responsible for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul's airport in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of civilians. ISIS-K has also claimed responsibility for attacks in Iran, Turkey, and Russia, including a mass shooting at a concert hall in Moscow in 2024 that killed at least 139 people.

The United States has taken action against ISIS-K, conducting airstrikes and killing the group's first four leaders. However, the group remains active and dangerous, and there are concerns about its ability to carry out further attacks in Afghanistan and beyond.

ISIS-K governs with a strict interpretation of Islamic law and uses violent enforcement tactics

ISIS-K, also known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), is a regional branch of the Salafi jihadist group Islamic State (IS) active in South-Central Asia, primarily Afghanistan and Pakistan. ISIS-K seeks to destabilize and replace current governments within the historic Khorasan region with the goal of establishing a caliphate across South and Central Asia, governed under a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which they plan to expand beyond the region.

ISIS-K is responsible for numerous attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, predominantly against Shia Muslims, politicians, and government employees. In August 2017, ISIS-K and the Taliban jointly attacked several villages inhabited by the Shia Hazara minority in northern Afghanistan, resulting in the mass murder of Hazara men, women, and children within Sar-e Pol Province. Some of its most notable attacks include the 2021 Kabul airport attack that killed 13 American military personnel and at least 169 Afghans in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from the country, twin suicide bombings in July 2018 that killed at least 131 at election rallies in Pakistan, twin bombings in July 2016 that killed 97 Shia Hazara protestors in downtown Kabul, and a suicide bombing in July 2023 that killed 63 in Khar, Pakistan, of a JUI (F) rally.

ISIS-K is believed to have 2,000 fighters and is a sworn enemy of the Taliban. It is an affiliate of ISIS-Core, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which financially supports ISIS-K. While ISIS has expanded all over the world, Afghanistan has been one of the more successful franchise groups. ISIS-K has been in Afghanistan since at least November 2014, when jihadists in Afghanistan and Pakistan pledged allegiance to the core ISIS group. ISIS-K was officially accepted by the core ISIS group in January 2015.

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