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ISIS-Khorasan: What Is Known About the Militants Behind the Kabul Explosions

28 August 2021, 14:30

This is the most brutal and extremist organization among all the warring jihadist groups in Afghanistan.

Radical Islamists who belong to the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for the explosions near Kabul airport. Here is what is known about the ISIS-Khorasan militants.

What kind of organization is this

ISIS-Khorasan (Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan) was founded in January 2015. A wilayat is an administrative-territorial unit in a number of Muslim countries.

Khorasan is the name of a historical region covering territories of Afghanistan and parts of Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

This is the most brutal and extremist organization among all the warring jihadist groups in Afghanistan. Its creation is often linked to the expulsion of IS from Iraq and Syria. The organization recruits supporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group includes former Taliban members who consider the movement not radical enough.

ISIS-Khorasan is blamed for the most horrific atrocities of recent years, including attacks on girls' schools, hospitals and even a maternity ward. In the latter, according to media reports, militants shot several pregnant women and nurses.

Unlike the Taliban, whose interests are limited to Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan is part of a global network whose ultimate goal is the creation of a worldwide caliphate.

The militants attack those they consider "infidels." They regard not only the West but also Shia Muslims as such. They strike their enemies wherever they can reach them.

Where the group is based

The main base of ISIS-Khorasan is Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, from where it is convenient to control routes for moving people and drugs across the Afghan-Pakistani border.

At the peak of its power, the group numbered about 3,000 militants, but then suffered significant losses in clashes with international coalition forces, the Afghan army and the Taliban.

What relations exist with the Taliban

ISIS-Khorasan is in conflict with the Taliban. It calls the latter "infidels" and does not recognize their ceasefire agreement with the United States. According to analysts, contacts between the two organizations may be maintained indirectly through the so-called Haqqani network.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, for whose head a reward of $5 million has been offered, leads the most organized and combat-capable part of the Taliban movement. According to some reports, he is responsible for maintaining order in Kabul today.

Sajjan Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation has for several years monitored the development of relations between two different jihadist groups in Afghanistan, BBC reports. He believes that "several major terrorist attacks in 2019-2021 would have been impossible without interaction between ISIS-Khorasan and the Haqqani network and terrorist groups based in Pakistan."

When the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, they freed many prisoners from Pul-e-Charkhi prison, some of whom may have been militants of IS and al-Qaeda (the organization behind the September 11 attacks).

ISIS-Khorasan has fundamental disagreements with the Taliban. The militants accuse the Taliban of trading jihad for a peace agreement drawn up in luxury hotels in Doha. This group is today seen as the main threat to Taliban rule.

US carries out airstrike

US military carried out an airstrike on an ISIS-Khorasan facility in Afghanistan, killing one important militant involved in planning attacks.

The target was destroyed by a drone in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. In a military statement it said: "Initial indications are that we destroyed the target. We have no information on civilian casualties."

A US official told the publication that the strike hit a car carrying two militants. One of them was responsible for planning future attacks on American military personnel.