Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that Islamic State militants were looking to attack a mob at Kabul airport – adding new urgency to the evacuation from Afghanistan, and introducing the American public to a terrorist group that is not familiar to most people.
The president spoke of growing concern about the threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province, better known as ISIS-K.
Isis In 2015 announced its expansion into the Khorasan region, which historically includes parts of modern day Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Biden told the White House on Tuesday, “Every day we’re on the field, there’s another day we know ISIS-K is trying to target the airport and attack both America and allied forces, and innocent civilians.” Has been doing.”
‘We are currently on pace to finish by 31 August. The sooner we finish, the better. Every day of operation brings additional risk to our soldiers.’
A member of Afghan security forces is seen holding a black and white Islamic State flag in the Afghan city of Jalalabad in August 2020, when ISIS-K fired a 20-hour gun to attack an airfield and attack a prison Fighter Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that ISIS-K posed a significant threat to evacuation efforts in Afghanistan
Joe Biden on Tuesday evening warned about the growing threat posed by ISIS-K in Kabul
The ISIS-K leader, identified as Abu Haider, is pictured in an undated image with seven of his fighters. ISIS-K. All were killed during clashes with Afghan forces in Nangarhar province, the stronghold of
ISIS-K, not affiliated with the Taliban, and not bound by its agreements with Washington, poses a fresh and deeply worrying threat.
Former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, on Tuesday night described him as one of “six or seven” ISIS allies worldwide – and told CNN he would not rule out an alliance between the Afghan Taliban and ISIS-K. can do
“They are reportedly not affiliated with the Taliban – although I am not sure of that,” he said.
The group first emerged in 2014 from another terror group Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – often referred to as the Pakistani Taliban.
NS Center for Strategic and International Studies Many of the top ISIS-K leadership is said to have come from the TTP – among them spokesperson Sheikh Maqbool and their first emir, Hafiz Saeed Khan.
A Pakistani national, Khan established an early stronghold on the border with Pakistan – in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
In 2015 the formation of ISIS-K was officially announced by the leadership of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and the terror network’s headquarters have pumped money into their Afghan outposts.
Hundreds of fighters gave up and surrendered days before ISIS-K published this photo in an effort to show unity and strength
The State Department designated ISIS-K as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on January 14, 2016.
Khan was killed in a US airstrike in July 2016, and three of his successors suffered the same fate.
The current leader of ISIS-K is believed to be Shahab al-Muhajir, also known as Sanaullah.
a united nation report good, published in February this year, said he assumed office in June 2020.
The Declaration of Appointment, written in Arabic and translated into Pashto, referred to al-Muhajir as a veteran military leader and one of ISIL-K’s ‘urban lions’ in Kabul, involved in guerrilla operations and planning. were involved. Suicides and complex attacks,’ the United Nations said.
Al-Muhajir reports to the leader of ISIS, an Iraqi named Emir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi – who took over at the time of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death in October 2019.
Al-Mawla is the current leader of ISIS, who took over from Baghdadi, who died in 2019
ISIS-K has encouraged international attacks, but is not believed to be operating beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The group released congratulatory videos following the 2016 Islamic State-inspired attacks in Orlando, Florida and Magnonville, France, and later additional footage of further lone-wolf attacks in the West.
ISIS-K saw its hold on northern Afghanistan loosen in 2018, and in 2019 it was severely challenged in its heartland.
Following attacks by Taliban, US and Afghan forces, the group lost most of the territory it controlled in eastern Afghanistan.
In March 2020, US Central Command commander General Frank McKenzie testified before Congress that the US had worked with the Taliban to attack ISIS-K.
“Over the past several months in eastern Afghanistan, we have seen the Taliban suppress and crush ISIS presence to the ground in southern Nangarhar province – and they have been very effective in doing so,” McKenzie said.
‘It was a bloody mess, but they did it. In fact, ISIS no longer holds land in Nangarhar province.’
Asked directly whether the Taliban had any US aid, he replied: ‘There was very limited support from our side – and I would characterize it as very limited support.’
CSIS published a map in 2019 showing the concentration of jihadist activity in the Afghan-Pakistan border areas, shown in yellow, where ISIS-K has a stronghold.
A close-up picture of an area showing ISIS-K and other jihadist activities in 2019
Defense Department report December 2020 said: ‘ISIS-K suffered a setback in 2019 when a combination of Taliban, Resolute Support and ANDSF operations forced it to lose its remaining strongholds in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.
The authors warned that ISIS-K still has the ability to launch devastating attacks in Kabul, despite its “operational capability” being “severely low”.
The report said that operations against ISIS-K in 2019 weakened its hold on the region.
“Since mid-2019, ISIS-K has played a less active role in managing regional ISIS networks, following the creation of ISIS-K branches in Pakistan and India,” the report said.
Its ability to enable or induce external attacks outside Afghanistan and Pakistan is limited.
‘Although ISIS continues to develop links with other networks outside Afghanistan, it is actively confined to South and Central Asia.
‘There is no evidence that a large number of Taliban have joined ISIS-K after the US-Taliban deal.’
An ISIS fighter is shown training in Afghanistan’s Kunar province in December 2017
The aftermath of the ISIS-K attack on Kabul University is seen in November 2020, with Afghan journalists documenting the scene.
However, by 2020, ISIS-K had recovered enough to launch a series of attacks across Afghanistan.
In May 2020, the group attacked a maternity ward in Kabul, killing more than two dozen civilians.
On the same day, ISIS-K also launched a separate attack on a funeral in Nangarhar province, killing more than 30 people.
In August 2020, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a multi-day complex attack targeting the Jalalabad airfield and a prison at the base.
ISIS-K fighters used a kamikaze driver to crack open the prison walls, and enabled foot fighters to breach the security.
The 20-hour gunfight left 29 people dead and officials scrambled to bring back hundreds of prisoners, including many from the Islamic State and Taliban.
And three months later, on November 2, 2020, two ISIS-K gunmen stormed Kabul University, killing 18 students, an administrator and an Afghan soldier, and wounding 28 others.
In May 2021, ISIS-K bombed a girls’ school in Kabul, killing 90 people. A car bomb was detonated in front of the school, and as the students left, two more bombs were fired.
The attack took place in the Hazara-dominated area, where most of the Shia groups live, which has been a frequent target of Islamic State attacks.
A burnt-out car is seen in front of the Jalalabad prison in Afghanistan after an ISIS-K attack in August 2020
Wounded people are held on stretchers after the ISIS-K bombing of a funeral in Jalalabad in May 2020
The US estimates that ISIS-K currently numbers about 2,000 fighters – well below its peak of 5,000.
The Taliban reportedly killed an ISIS-K leader this month.
At the time of the UN report in February, Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said: “This is really part of the ebb and flow of jihad.”
‘The ISKP appeals to the most radical elements of the jihadists, and its propensity for extreme violence without concern for civilian casualties attracts a significant number of followers.’
And, he told voice of americaIf the Taliban regime lets the hardliners down, their numbers could rise.
“They have been able to recoup some of the damage from disaffected Afghan and Pakistani Taliban members, as well as from the pool of hardliners in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.
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