Afghanistan: What about ISIS-K, the Taliban’s Islamic State group behind the Kabul airport attack? USA | The world

Finally, threats emerged this Thursday.

At least 60 people were killed and more than 140 were injured in two bomb blasts on Thursday after the White House and allies warned of an attack on Kabul airport. AfghanistanIncluding children, women and U.S. military officers.

Identity: Live | Afghanistan: More than 60 people killed in twin suicide bombings at Kabul airport

The attack came after the Taliban regained power on August 15 as evacuation operations continued against the clock.

Thousands of people from Afghanistan and foreigners gathered at the airport in the hope that the country could escape.

This week, however, different embassies asked their citizens to leave the terminal Fear of possible attacks It was finally completed this Thursday.

Behind them, according to US spy agencies, was the EI-K (ISIS-Q, For its abbreviation in English) or Islamic State Corazon Province, The regional coalition known as the Islamic State (IS) operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Taliban’s enemies.

The group claimed responsibility for the attack and celebrated the suicide bombing, according to its version, by detonating a bomb at the airport entrance.

Identity: The United States has said two attacks on Kabul airport were carried out by Islamic State suicide bombers

The blasts came a week after the US president. Joe Biden, Ensure that his country fulfills its mission after defeating “terrorism” in Afghanistan.

However, US forces were the target of an attack on the Afghan branch of IS on Thursday, while Afghanistan is again under Taliban control (al Qaeda allies, US team for the September 11, 2001 attacks) .UU.)

What do you know about ISIS-K?

As BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner explains, ISIS-Q Very serious and violent All jihadi extremist groups operating in Afghanistan.

Formed in January 2015 at the height of ISIS power in Iraq and Syria, its self-proclaimed caliphate was defeated and eliminated by the US-led coalition.

The group did not see the jihadists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially members of the Afghan Taliban, as “insufficient extremists” in their own organization.

Intelligence sources told the group some of the reasons The worst atrocities in Afghanistan In recent years, there have been attacks targeting women’s schools, hospitals and the maternity ward where pregnant women and nurses have been shot dead.

Unlike the Taliban, which is confined to Afghanistan, ISIS-K is part of a global IS network that seeks to launch attacks against targets. Western, international and humanitarian wherever they go.

Where are they located?

ISIS-K is located in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, close to drug and human trafficking routes inside and outside Pakistan.

At its peak, there were some in the group 3,000 fightersBut it suffered significant casualties in clashes with US and Afghan security forces and the Taliban.

How is your relationship with the Taliban?

ISIS-K has big differences with the Taliban, accusing them of abandoning jihad and the battlefield, and Qatar has negotiated a peace deal with the United States in “luxury hotels” in Doha.

In their statement claiming responsibility for Thursday’s attack, they blamed the Taliban “Cooperate” with US forces to expel “spies”.

However, they have been linked to the Taliban by a third group.

According to researchers, There are strong links between the ISIS-K and the so-called Haqqani NetworkIt is closely associated with the Taliban.

Khalil Haqqani, the leader of the network, is now in charge of security in Kabul.

Sajjan Kohal, The Asia-Pacific Foundation has been monitoring extremist networks in Afghanistan for years.

The expert believes that “many of the major attacks between 2019 and 2021 involved ISIS-K, the Taliban’s Haqqani network and other Pakistan-based terrorist groups.”

When the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, the group released a number of prisoners from the Bull-e-Sarki prison, including the Islamic State and Al Qaeda extremists. These people are free now.

IS militants pose a major security challenge to the incoming Taliban government, which it shares with Western intelligence agencies.

A “very real” threat

“The threat to our forces, especially ISIS-K, is as real as we see it today,” General Kenneth McKenzie, the U.S. commander-in-chief, said Thursday.

In a message to the nation after the attacks, President Biden promised that “these IS terrorists will not be defeated” and promised to respond “with strength and accuracy”.

“We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt them down and make them pay,” the president said, while at the same time he ordered his commanders. Develop plans to attack ISIS-K targets and leaders.

“We hope we know who they are and we will take steps to reach them wherever they are,” he added.

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