Taliban takes on ISKP, its most serious foe in Afghanistan
3 years, 3 months ago

Taliban takes on ISKP, its most serious foe in Afghanistan

Al Jazeera  

Afghan group cracks down on ISKP members after a series of deadly attacks, but experts say it won’t be an easy task. Wesley Morgan, an author and journalist who has reported extensively on the US war in Afghanistan, says there is a fear that the Taliban “could label various groups as Daesh that aren’t, just like the US and Kabul, before them, did for decades.” Though much of ISKP’s activity has been in Nangarhar, neighbouring Kunar has proven to be an especially valuable province for ISKP recruitment. The Taliban leadership “don’t want disaffected or rogue fighters defecting in the hopes of seeing action” with ISKP, Morgan told Al Jazeera. Morgan said taking out the Taliban’s “indisputable enemy” would prove much more enticing to their fighters than trying to sever ties with what meagre al-Qaeda forces still exist in Afghanistan. Defeating ISKP, said Morgan, “is in the Taliban’s interest,” and it would be a clear indication that the Taliban, too, believes in “counterterrorism”.

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History of this topic

In Afghanistan, Taliban Face a Growing Threat in ISKP
1 year, 8 months ago

In Afghanistan, Taliban Face a Growing Threat in ISKP

The Diplomat  

In the morning hours of March 9 in Mazar-i-Sharif, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the second-floor office of Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province. At least 16 attacks carried out by ISKP between August 2021 and September 2022 on the minority Shia Hazara community in places of worships, schools, and workplaces – killing over …

Afghan Taliban raid kills 6 members of Islamic State group
1 year, 9 months ago

Afghan Taliban raid kills 6 members of Islamic State group

Associated Press  

ISLAMABAD — An overnight raid by Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province killed six members of the extremist Islamic State group, a Taliban spokesman said Tuesday. The regional affiliate of the IS group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — has been the key rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. …

Afghanistan: Top Islamic State leaders killed in Kabul, says Taliban
1 year, 10 months ago

Afghanistan: Top Islamic State leaders killed in Kabul, says Taliban

Firstpost  

This was announced by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which claimed that its forces killed two top Islamic State commanders during a raid in Kabul a few days ago Kabul: A couple of top commanders of the Islamic State terrorist group in Afghanistan have been reportedly killed by the Afghan Taliban. This was announced by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, …

Top Islamic State commanders killed by Taliban forces in Afghanistan
1 year, 10 months ago

Top Islamic State commanders killed by Taliban forces in Afghanistan

India Today  

The Taliban government in Afghanistan said its security forces killed two key Islamic State commanders during a counter-terrorism raid in capital Kabul a few days ago. One of the slain terrorists was Qari Fateh, touted as the intelligence chief and a former minister of war of the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Mujahid said Qari Fateh was …

Kashmiri ISKP Commander, Mastermind of 2020 Bombing at Kabul's Gurdwara, Killed by Taliban
1 year, 10 months ago

Kashmiri ISKP Commander, Mastermind of 2020 Bombing at Kabul's Gurdwara, Killed by Taliban

News 18  

The Islamic State-Khorasan has confirmed the death of Ejaz Amin Ahangar, known as Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, a senior member of the group in southern Afghanistan. Declared a designated terrorist in January 2023, Al-Kashmiri had also asked Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, a former dentist from Kasargod in Kerala, to carry out attacks in the state. It said he was “engaged in restarting …

Terrorists in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan
2 years, 2 months ago

Terrorists in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan

The Diplomat  

In October 2021, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, Dr. Colin Kahl, testified before the U.S. Congress on the status of security in Afghanistan. When asked about the potential resurgence of international terrorism emanating from the country, Kahl responded that the U.S. intelligence community assessed both al-Qaida and the Islamic State’s “Khorasan” branch “have the intent to conduct external …

Afghan minority groups face threats from ISKP: HRW
2 years, 4 months ago

Afghan minority groups face threats from ISKP: HRW

Al Jazeera  

The rights group says the Taliban has failed to protect Hazaras and other at-risk communities. An affiliate of the ISIL armed group in Afghanistan has targeted Hazaras – a predominantly Shia Muslim ethnic group – and other minorities, in a wave of attacks at mosques, schools and workplaces, undermining the Taliban’s promise of greater security, the Human Rights Watch said …

Can The Taliban Handle the Islamic State?
2 years, 11 months ago

Can The Taliban Handle the Islamic State?

The Diplomat  

Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in mid-December, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan caused quite a stir. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who remained in Afghanistan even as the Western-backed government of his successor Ashraf Ghani collapsed, fired back on Twitter, characterizing Khan’s remarks as “an attempt to sow discord among Afghans, and an insult to the Afghan …

Taliban's growing proximity with China is an opportunity ISKP trying to leverage
3 years, 1 month ago

Taliban's growing proximity with China is an opportunity ISKP trying to leverage

India Today  

If the Taliban thought their coming to power was going to be as smooth as it was during the first time, they have a host of challenges staring at them. During the meeting, he had commented that China expected the Taliban to “deal resolutely with Uyghur militants in Afghanistan and the border areas”. The Amaq News Agency, Islamic State's official …

The Hindu Editorial on Islamic State vs the Taliban
3 years, 2 months ago

The Hindu Editorial on Islamic State vs the Taliban

The Hindu  

The suicide attack on a mosque in Kunduz last week, killing at least 50 people, all of them from Afghanistan’s persecuted Shia minority, is a grave reminder that the conflict in the country is far from over. When the Taliban captured power in 1996, their main promise was to provide security to a people who were living through almost two …

After 'Candid' Talks With the Taliban, US to Provide Aid to Afghanistan
3 years, 2 months ago

After 'Candid' Talks With the Taliban, US to Provide Aid to Afghanistan

The Quint  

Referring to the talks as 'candid' and 'professional', a Department of State spokesman said that they "focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as on human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society”, the AP report added. The …

Afghanistan: ISKP claims responsibility for bombing shia mosque
3 years, 3 months ago

Afghanistan: ISKP claims responsibility for bombing shia mosque

Op India  

Hours after a suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque in Kunduz, where 300 Muslims were offering their Friday prayers, the ‘Sunni’ terror outfit Islamic State of Khorasan Province has claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack. ISKP and the targetting of Shia Muslims The recent rise of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan has accentuated the fear of the Hazara community …

ISKP has been attempting to recruit Indians
3 years, 4 months ago

ISKP has been attempting to recruit Indians

The Hindu  

Operatives of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, which has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, have been making attempts to recruit Indians for the past few years. The National Investigation Agency, in coordination with the intelligence agencies, has busted an Indian module which was in contact with some ISKP operatives, and also some …

Explained | Who are ISKP, the group behind Kabul blasts?
3 years, 4 months ago

Explained | Who are ISKP, the group behind Kabul blasts?

The Hindu  

In June 2015, a few months after the Islamic State announced its Wilayat Khorasan, the Taliban wrote a letter to the IS chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, asking him to stop recruiting jihadists in Afghanistan. The letter, signed by the then political committee chief of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, said there was room for “only one flag and one leadership” …

The threat of ISKP in Afghanistan has been underestimated
3 years, 4 months ago

The threat of ISKP in Afghanistan has been underestimated

Al Jazeera  

On August 26, two suicide bombers killed 72 Afghans and 13 members of the US military at Kabul airport amid evacuation efforts. First, ISKP attacked the airport primarily to discredit its rival, the Taliban, in yet another escalation of the larger conflict between Sunni extremist armed groups. A conflict between Sunni non-state actors The emergence of ISIL, the umbrella organisation …

Pakistan proxies in fight to the finish in Afghanistan, but India too needs to prep
4 years, 8 months ago

Pakistan proxies in fight to the finish in Afghanistan, but India too needs to prep

Hindustan Times  

Aslam Farooqui, the so-called Islamic State of Khorasan Province chief who was arrested on April 4, hasn’t really been singing like a canary as some expected. Arrested ISKP chief Aslam Farooqui has told interrogators that 90 percent of his fighters have been neutralised by the Taliban, whose sword arm is Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of Haqqani network The Taliban, he has …

Kabul gurdwara attack ‘mastermind’ arrested
4 years, 9 months ago

Kabul gurdwara attack ‘mastermind’ arrested

The Hindu  

Afghanistan’s Special Forces on Saturday arrested Mawlawi Aslam Farooqi, a Pakistani national and the emir of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, the group that claimed the March 25 attack on a gurdwara in Kabul that killed 27 people, including an Indian. Confirming the arrest, an Afghanistan official said on Saturday that the ISKP has strong links with “regional intelligence …

ISKP chief’s arrest for gurdwara attack brings out clear link to Pakistan’s ISI: Official
4 years, 9 months ago

ISKP chief’s arrest for gurdwara attack brings out clear link to Pakistan’s ISI: Official

Hindustan Times  

In a massive security operation backed with pin-pointed intelligence, the Afghan security forces wiped out the entire Pakistan- During interrogation by Afghan National Directorate of Security, Farooqui is understood to have laid bare links of ISKP with Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence. WATCH | Mastermind of Kabul Gurudwara attack, ISKP terrorist Farooqui, captured Pakistani national Mawlawi Abdullah, who was earlier associated …

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