Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan’s Islamic State?
3 years, 4 months ago

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan’s Islamic State?

India TV News  

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. While the Taliban have confined their struggle to Afghanistan, the Islamic State group in Afghanistan and Pakistan has embraced the Islamic State’s call for a worldwide jihad against non-Muslims. While intelligence officials believe al-Qaida fighters are integrated among the Taliban, the Taliban, by contrast, have waged major, coordinated offensives against the Islamic State group in Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents at times joined with both the U.S. and U.S.-backed Afghan government forces to rout the Islamic State from parts of Afghanistan’s northeast.

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History of this topic

What is the Islamic State? Terror group flag seen at New Orleans attack
Trending News
6 days, 21 hours ago

What is the Islamic State? Terror group flag seen at New Orleans attack

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The radical Islamic State …

What is the Islamic State group and what attacks has it inspired?
1 week ago

What is the Islamic State group and what attacks has it inspired?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The FBI says it recovered the black banner of the Islamic State group from the truck that an American man from Texas smashed into New Year’s partygoers in New Orleans’ French Quarter, killing 15 people. The main group at peak strength claimed a handful of coordinated operations targeting the West, including a 2015 Paris plot that killed 130 …

Afghan resistance leader warns attack on American soil ‘not a matter of if but when’
8 months, 1 week ago

Afghan resistance leader warns attack on American soil ‘not a matter of if but when’

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mr Massoud told the Daily Mail the region around …

Islamic State group still has thousands in Syria and Iraq and poses Afghan threat, UN experts say
1 year, 4 months ago

Islamic State group still has thousands in Syria and Iraq and poses Afghan threat, UN experts say

Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS — The Islamic State group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq and its fighters pose the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan today, U.N. experts said in a report circulated Monday. The experts monitoring sanctions against the militant group, also known by its Arab acronym Daesh, said that during …

Taliban slams US report on rising threats in Afghanistan
1 year, 6 months ago

Taliban slams US report on rising threats in Afghanistan

Al Jazeera  

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the country is enjoying its greatest stability of the past 40 years. The Taliban has rejected a United States watchdog’s report saying foreign armed groups and domestic security threats have increased in Afghanistan since the group took over the country in a blitzkrieg in August 2021. “We strongly reject SIGAR’s propaganda,” the Taliban’s chief spokesman, …

Islamic State Khorasan: Global Jihad in a Multipolar World
1 year, 10 months ago

Islamic State Khorasan: Global Jihad in a Multipolar World

The Diplomat  

The Islamic State garnered global media attention in 2014, when its forces scored a series of sweeping battlefield victories and territorial gains across swathes of Iraq and Syria. They predict, “not only in Ukraine, but the entire Western world and the kuffar as a whole, sooner or later drink from the same bitter cup of war that they made the …

Islamic State-Khorasan’s Transition Into a Transregional Threat
2 years ago

Islamic State-Khorasan’s Transition Into a Transregional Threat

The Diplomat  

The rise of the Taliban to power did not bring peace to Afghanistan. Quite the reverse, different forms of political violence have either continued or emerged, including the Taliban regime’s extrajudicial executions, the anti-Taliban armed resistance, and both indiscriminate and targeted violence by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province. Some of these are related to uninvestigated aspects of ISKP, including its organizational …

Islamic State in Afghanistan 'under control', say Taliban
3 years, 1 month ago

Islamic State in Afghanistan 'under control', say Taliban

India Today  

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said Wednesday that the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the country was “more or less under control” despite recent bloody attacks that have killed dozens. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference that IS was “not a great threat”, adding that around 600 members or sympathisers had been arrested since the Taliban seized control …

EXPLAINER: Can the Taliban suppress the potent IS threat?
3 years, 2 months ago

EXPLAINER: Can the Taliban suppress the potent IS threat?

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The intensity and breadth of attacks … show the …

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 …

Taliban grapple with the potent Islamic State threat in Afghanistan amid spike in insurgencies
3 years, 2 months ago

Taliban grapple with the potent Islamic State threat in Afghanistan amid spike in insurgencies

Firstpost  

Both the Taliban and IS advocate rule by their radical interpretations of Islamic law. But there are key ideological differences that fuel their hatred of each other Kabul, Afghanistan: With the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, there’s a new enemy ascending. “Historically, the majority of IS attacks have targeted the state … Now that the US and the international presence …

EXPLAINER: Can the Taliban suppress the potent IS threat?
3 years, 2 months ago

EXPLAINER: Can the Taliban suppress the potent IS threat?

Associated Press  

KABUL, Afghanistan — With the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, there’s a new enemy ascending. “The intensity and breadth of attacks … show the capacity and level of national reach which has caught the Taliban by surprise,” said Ibraheem Bahiss, a consultant with the International Crisis Group. In 2015, a former Taliban commander, Abdul Rauf Khadim, was appointed deputy of …

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 …

Islamic State claims responsibility for Afghan mosque blast that killed at least 46
3 years, 3 months ago

Islamic State claims responsibility for Afghan mosque blast that killed at least 46

LA Times  

At least 46 people were killed in an explosion targeting a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan, a Taliban police official says. An Islamic State suicide bomber struck a mosque packed with Shiite Muslim worshipers in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 46 people and wounding dozens in the latest security challenge to the Taliban as it transitions from …

The Threat of Islamic Terrorism Has Only Increased In 20 Years After 9/11
3 years, 3 months ago

The Threat of Islamic Terrorism Has Only Increased In 20 Years After 9/11

News 18  

This year marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington D.C. that changed global geopolitics in a matter of hours. The terror strikes against the US marked the beginning of a new era, led by a political ideation now known as the ‘War against Terror’, which saw the largest mobilisation of Western military strength, arguably since …

End of US mission in Kabul: America completes withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

End of US mission in Kabul: America completes withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan

India TV News  

The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 US service members, some barely older than the war. Hours ahead of President Joe …

US strikes Islamic State target in Afghanistan, pushes airlift into final stage
3 years, 4 months ago

US strikes Islamic State target in Afghanistan, pushes airlift into final stage

India Today  

The US conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State target in Afghanistan on Saturday, as the airlift of those desperate to flee moved into a fraught final stage with fresh terror attack warnings and encroaching Taliban forces primed to take over Kabul airport. Follow Afghanistan News LIVE Updates The attack followed a chorus of warnings about an imminent threat …

Opinion: Why Biden’s views on the Afghan terror attack make no sense
3 years, 4 months ago

Opinion: Why Biden’s views on the Afghan terror attack make no sense

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. CNN — President Joe Biden has instigated a crisis in Afghanistan that could leave American citizens, as well as many Afghans who helped the United States, trapped there – tarnishing the Biden administration and potentially recalling …

Biden pledges more strikes against extremists as U.S. warns of credible threat in Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Biden pledges more strikes against extremists as U.S. warns of credible threat in Afghanistan

LA Times  

A U.S. Marine checks an Afghan woman as she goes through the evacuation control center Saturday at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. He warned that another attack by the group was “highly likely,” and the State Department called the threat “specific” and “credible.” The Pentagon said the remaining contingent of U.S. forces at the airport, now numbering fewer than 4,000, …

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan’s Islamic State?
3 years, 4 months ago

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan’s Islamic State?

Associated Press  

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for a deadly suicide attack outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. The Islamic State’s Central Asia affiliate sprang up in the months after the group’s core fighters swept across Syria and Iraq, carving out a self-styled …

U.S. braces for more ISIS attacks after Kabul airport carnage
3 years, 4 months ago

U.S. braces for more ISIS attacks after Kabul airport carnage

The Hindu  

U.S. forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule braced for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 85 people, including 13 U.S. soldiers outside the gates of Kabul airport. “We’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” he said,adding that some intelligence was being shared with the Taliban and that he believed “some …

Who are the Islamic State-Khorasan, group responsible for Kabul airport bombing?
3 years, 4 months ago

Who are the Islamic State-Khorasan, group responsible for Kabul airport bombing?

Firstpost  

The ‘sworn enemy’ of the Taliban, the affiliate of the extremist group, has long desired to attack America The Islamic State offshoot that the US blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, US …

What makes Afghanistan's Islamic State dangerous: Explainer
3 years, 4 months ago

What makes Afghanistan's Islamic State dangerous: Explainer

India Today  

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. The Islamic State’s Central Asia affiliate sprang up in the months after the group’s core fighters swept across Syria and Iraq, carving out a self-styled …

Decoded | What is Islamic State-Khorasan that launched deadliest attack on US forces since 2011
3 years, 4 months ago

Decoded | What is Islamic State-Khorasan that launched deadliest attack on US forces since 2011

India Today  

Multiple bomb blasts at the Kabul airport on Thursday night were the deadliest terror attack on US forces in Afghanistan since 2011. Among the terror attacks that the IS-Khorasan claimed to have carried out were on Kabul University premises, firing of rockets into the Presidential Palace of Afghanistan and targeting Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in 2020. The Taliban …

Analysis: Biden in turmoil as blast in Kabul raises leadership questions
3 years, 4 months ago

Analysis: Biden in turmoil as blast in Kabul raises leadership questions

CNN  

CNN — America’s longest war is ending as it began, with the nation mourning the dead of a terrorist attack and an outraged President vowing to hunt down the culprits in Afghanistan. It also shone a harsh light on President Joe Biden’s decision-making and the chaotic nature of the US withdrawal that left American troops and civilians so vulnerable, in …

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan's Islamic State
3 years, 4 months ago

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan's Islamic State

The Hindu  

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday's deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. Despite years of military targeting by the U.S.-led coalition, the group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to press more assaults as the United …

Who Are ISIS-K? The Terror Group Posing A Threat To Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Who Are ISIS-K? The Terror Group Posing A Threat To Afghanistan

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING ISIS-K presents a serious risk to the safety of all citizens desperately trying to escape Afghanistan through Kabul Airport. “The longer we stay, starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan — which is the sworn enemy of the Taliban as well — …

Why is Islamic State a threat in Afghanistan despite Taliban rule?
3 years, 4 months ago

Why is Islamic State a threat in Afghanistan despite Taliban rule?

Hindustan Times  

Amid growing warnings of terror threats targeting the Kabul airport, several countries have decided to end their evacuation operation ahead of the August 31 deadline for a complete withdrawal of US-led foreign troops. US soldiers stand inside the airport wall as hundreds of people gather near an evacuation control checkpoint on the perimeter of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in …

U.K. warns of ‘imminent’ terrorist attack at Kabul airport
3 years, 4 months ago

U.K. warns of ‘imminent’ terrorist attack at Kabul airport

The Hindu  

Britain on Thursday warned that there was a “very credible” report of an “imminent” terrorist attack by the Islamic State militants targeting those gathering at Kabul airport in an attempt to flee war-torn Afghanistan. There is “very, very credible” intelligence that Islamic State militants are planning an imminent attack on those gathering at Kabul airport in an attempt to flee …

What is the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan?
3 years, 4 months ago

What is the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan?

Deccan Chronicle  

Kabul: As desperate Afghans crowd Kabul airport trying to get on any evacuation flights to flee the Taliban, officials have warned of another jihadist threat: the Islamic State group. President Joe Biden said there is "an acute and growing risk" of an attack at the airport by the group's regional chapter, called Islamic State-Khorasan or ISIS-K. Islamic State had been …

What is the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan?
3 years, 4 months ago

What is the Islamic State threat in Afghanistan?

India Today  

As desperate Afghans crowd Kabul airport trying to get on any evacuation flights to flee the Taliban, officials have warned of another jihadist threat: the Islamic State group. President Joe Biden said there is "an acute and growing risk" of an attack at the airport by the group's regional chapter, called Islamic State-Khorasan or ISIS-K. Islamic State had been highly …

Kabul bombings: ‘We will hunt you down,’ Biden warns attackers
3 years, 4 months ago

Kabul bombings: ‘We will hunt you down,’ Biden warns attackers

Al Jazeera  

US president confirms that bombings near airport were carried out by ISIL affiliate. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command.” Biden added that the US will continue the evacuations of American citizens and US allies despite the attack. “Our mission is to evacuate US citizens, third-country nationals, Special Immigrant Visa holders, US embassy …

Biden: Greater threats than Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Biden: Greater threats than Taliban-controlled Afghanistan

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says even with the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, he sees a greater threat from outposts of al-Qaida and its affiliated groups in other countries, and that it was no longer “rational” to continue to focus U.S. military power there. Biden named Syria and East Africa as places where the Islamic State group poses a …

Analysis: Biden’s presidency is under scrutiny as never before over Afghan chaos
3 years, 4 months ago

Analysis: Biden’s presidency is under scrutiny as never before over Afghan chaos

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden is struggling against an intensifying examination of his judgment, competence and even his empathy over the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan. “I don’t think it was a failure,” the President said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, referring to a US pullout that sparked scenes of desperate Afghans clinging to, and falling …

Afghanistan: UN sounds alarm over threat posed by emboldened Taliban, still closely tied to al Qaeda
3 years, 7 months ago

Afghanistan: UN sounds alarm over threat posed by emboldened Taliban, still closely tied to al Qaeda

CNN  

CNN — An emboldened Taliban poses a severe and expanding threat to the government of Afghanistan, remains close to al Qaeda, and believes it can return to power by force if necessary, according to a United Nations Security Council report released on Wednesday. The UN team says that the Taliban is “reported to be responsible for the great majority of …

Opinion: U.S. Faces Hard Choices To Fight Terrorism After Afghanistan Withdrawal
3 years, 8 months ago

Opinion: U.S. Faces Hard Choices To Fight Terrorism After Afghanistan Withdrawal

NPR  

Opinion: U.S. Faces Hard Choices To Fight Terrorism After Afghanistan Withdrawal Enlarge this image toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Joe Raedle/Getty Images Colin P. Clarke is the director of policy and research at The Soufan Group and a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center. Sponsor Message According to the 2021 Annual Threat Assessment released this week by the Office …

(Opinion) President Biden’s magical thinking on Afghanistan
3 years, 8 months ago

(Opinion) President Biden’s magical thinking on Afghanistan

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. CNN — President Biden’s decision to announce a date for pulling all US troops out of Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11 sets the stage for a predictable disaster. A headline from Reuters nicely captured …

Islamic State's expanding terror footprint, Taliban's growing ambitions make peace in Afghanistan elusive
4 years, 2 months ago

Islamic State's expanding terror footprint, Taliban's growing ambitions make peace in Afghanistan elusive

Firstpost  

With the Taliban entering into a ‘peace deal’ with the US, the Islamic State -Khorasan Province may be seeking to fill the void When the United States and the Taliban appeared to have reached an agreement for peace in Afghanistan, people in the war-torn country danced and waved the national flag in celebration. Islamic State’s expanding footprint Afghanistan With the …

Afghan Islamic State after Baghdadi
5 years, 2 months ago

Afghan Islamic State after Baghdadi

The Hindu  

On October 26, the U.S. announced that the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed, in an apparent suicide detonation during a raid at his house in Idlib, Syria. “While the larger ideology of the group has managed to find some in-roads into the radicalised segments in Afghanistan, the lack of a nationalist sentiment, such as that offered by …

Islamic State remains resilient in Afghanistan despite 'high pace' of operations by govt, international forces: Antonio Guterres
5 years, 3 months ago

Islamic State remains resilient in Afghanistan despite 'high pace' of operations by govt, international forces: Antonio Guterres

Firstpost  

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the Islamic State extremist group remains resilient in Afghanistan despite ‘a high pace’ of operations against it by government and international forces United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the Islamic State extremist group remains resilient in Afghanistan despite “a high pace” of operations against it by government and international forces — and is urging all armed …

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