Who are the ISIS-K, the terrorists of the Islamic State that the Taliban do not control and threaten the Kabul airport

As Western efforts continue to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Concerns are growing that a local affiliate of the Islamic State group could target crowds outside the Kabul airport with suicide bombings or fire missiles at US planes.

For this reason, in the last few hours, military aircraft have been making spiral landings and other aircraft have fired flares on take-off, both measures used to prevent missile attacks.

The threat comes from the Islamic State of Khorasan, also known as IS-K or ISIS-K, a self-proclaimed offshoot of the terror group that first emerged in Syria and Iraq.

Joe Biden: “We know that some terrorists might try to take advantage of the situation”

The US government said that is working around the clock to evacuate Americans and those who assisted US forces out of Kabul, but that the security situation on the ground is complex given the presence of groups like ISIS-K.

“We know that some terrorists might try to take advantage of the situation”Biden said Sunday in a televised address from the White House on this operation. “It is still a dangerous operation.”

“The threat is real. It is sharp. It is persistent. And it’s something we focus on with every tool in our arsenal. “, he added for his part Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, speaking to CNN on Sunday.

From August 14, The United States has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of more than 30,000 people on military and coalition flights. Tens of thousands of people – Americans, other foreigners and Afghans who assisted in the war effort – are still waiting to join the airlift, which has been held back by security concerns and bureaucratic hurdles.

What the ISIS-K

The ISIS-K group was founded three years ago and is still active, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). While the affiliates share an ideology and tactics, the depth of their relationship with respect to the Islamic State and its leadership has never been fully established.

The group’s name comes from its terminology for the area that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan: “Khorasan.”

CSIS said ISIS-K was responsible for nearly 100 attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as approximately 250 clashes with US, Afghan and Pakistani security forces since January 2017.

UN counterterrorism officials said in June that ISIS had carried out 77 attacks in Afghanistan in the first four months of this year, up from 21 in the same period in 2020.. Last year’s attacks included an attack on Kabul University in November and a rocket bombardment on Kabul airport a month later.

US intelligence officials told CNN that among the members of ISIS-K there are “A small number of veteran Syrian jihadists and other foreign terrorist fighters”They said the United States had identified between 10 and 15 of its main operatives in Afghanistan.

“ISIS-K has been waiting for an opportunity like this, where its fighters can exploit the chaos of the situation on the ground for a chance to kill American soldiers.”explained to The New York Times Colin P. Clarke, Counterterrorism Analyst at Soufan Group, a New York-based security consulting firm, referring to the Khorasan affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have fought ISIS in recent years, and Islamic State leaders in Afghanistan denounced the takeover of the country by the Taliban, criticizing his version of the Islamic government as not being intransigent enough.

Nevertheless, some analysts say that in recent times ISIS-K has strengthened ties with la red Haqqani, an Afghan insurgent guerrilla group organic to the Taliban.

Therefore, one of the concerns about the Taliban seizure of power is that they could once again host extremist groups. The Taliban sheltered Al Qaeda while orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, which led to the American invasion in 2001. The Taliban now say they will not allow Afghanistan to be a base for attacks against other countries.

In that sense, US officials acknowledged that an attack on the airport would be a strategic blow against both the United States and the Taliban., who are trying to show that they can control the country.