ISIS-K
 ISIS-K  (Islamic terrorism)   | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Formation | 26 January 2015 |
| Parent organization | Islamic State |
| Leader | Shahab al-Muhajir |
| ISIS branch in South Asia and Central Asia. | |
Wilayat Khorasan or ISIS-K is the Islamic State “affiliate” in Pakistan and Afghanistan and was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the US Department of State in January 2016.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the US and NATO carried out more than 300 airstrikes against ISIS-K since January 2017.[1]
On 26 August 2021, terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann tweeted that ISIS-K had claimed responsibility for the 2021 Kabul Airport attacks and posted a photo of the alleged suicide bomber.[2]
Background
In April 2018, Paul Lushenko, Lance Van Auken and Garrett Stebbins wrote an article entitled "ISIS-K: deadly nuisance or strategic threat?":
ABSTRACT
In 2014, an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria emerged in Afghanistan.
Wilayat Khorasan, or ISIS-K, intends to secure Afghanistan to legitimise the Islamic State’s caliphate across the ‘Khorasan Province’ including portions of Central Asia, China, Iran, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. While the group’s intent is clear, its capability confounds analysts.
The authors argue that Wilayat Khorasan is likely the Islamic State’s most viable and lethal regional affiliate based on an expansionist military strategy. This is designed to enable the group’s encirclement of Jalalabad City in Nangarhar Province and is foundational to its expanded operational reach, regionalisation, and lethality.
Since 2016, the US-led Coalition’s counter-terrorism strategy has disrupted ISIS-K’s critical requirements and prevented external attacks. Yet, raids and strikes alone will not defeat ISIS-K. They must be calibrated against an institution-building approach that legitimises Afghanistan’s government and redresses grievances that ISIS-K exploits to resolve.[3]
"Anti-Taliban"
ISIS-K considers the Taliban, noted for its brutality, to be insufficiently devout in its adherence to Islam and the two militant groups engage in regular attacks on each other, according to a senior US intelligence official.[4]
An event carried out
| Event | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Kabul Airport attacks | Kabul Afghanistan | Suicide bombings in the middle of the Afghanistan/2021 withdraw |
Related Quotations
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmad Wali Massoud | “ISIS-K is not a reality in Afghanistan I don't know which branch of terrorists are called ISIS-K it's quite new, it's not familiar it's not like a homegrown terrorist group like what was in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan it never existed before.” | Ahmad Wali Massoud | 27 August 2021 |
| Vladimir Putin | “95% of the world’s terrorist attacks are orchestrated by the CIA.” | Vladimir Putin | 2017 |
References
- ↑ "President Biden warned of terror group “ISIS-K” in Tuesday speech"
- ↑ "ISIS has now formally claimed responsibility for the Kabul bombings and has provided a photo of at least one alleged suicide bomber"
- ↑ "ISIS-K: deadly nuisance or strategic threat?"
- ↑ "Brutal ISIS-K affiliate in Afghanistan poses terror threat to U.S. evacuation"
