Men, targets and resources of ISIS-K terrorists according to analysts ISIS
has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks that took place in Kabul , Afghanistan, which caused at least 170 deaths and 200 injuries. The most affected were Afghan civilians.
And the American response to the bloody attack on Kabul airport was not long in coming. After presenting in tears to the cameras and assuring that those responsible for the attack would pay her, President Joe Biden authorized a raid in Afghanistan, in the Nagahar region, during which one of the minds of the ‘Isis-K planning future attacks. The militant’s identity was not disclosed.
But who are they, how many are they, where they are and how the Isis-K terrorists are financed.
Here are all the details. The history of ISIS in Afghanistan
The terrorist group Isis-k, the offshoot of the self-styled Islamic State active in the Khorasan region, on the border with Pakistan, hit the Kabul airport. The group was born in 2014 “when the Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Caliphate is at its peak and focuses its global expansion strategy on the creation of affiliations (” provinces “in the group’s jargon) in various continents – wrote in Repubblica Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Extremism Program at George Washington University -. Isis-k is founded by a nucleus of Pakistani Taliban exiles (Tehrik – and Taliban Pakistan), soon joined by deserters from other Afghan and Pakistani jihadist militias ”. They conquer the Achin district by perpetrating violence against the population. “Theirs is such a brutal government that the Taliban stand up as defenders of the population and begin to fight them – writes Nico Piro , correspondent of Tg3 on his blog -. When the Americans and the government begin to try to stop them, it’s late, so much so that the Taliban denounce the complicity between the US and Isis . In the end it will be the red units, the Taliban special forces, who will free Achin, driving ISIS into the mountains, back to Pakistan ”.The military defeat
In 2018, ISIS was defeated militarily, since then it has exploited the techniques of guerrilla warfare. “Not being able to measure on the field by now reduced in terms of troops and territorial presence – writes Nico Piro -, he moves on to attacks against” soft-targets “, that is, low-security civilian targets, where with little effort (a kamikaze costs approximately 2500 dollars ) make many victims by spreading terror and conquering the media limelight “. A force of 2,000 men
The Khorasan, an area in which the attacking terrorists have their headquarters, and a region that includes northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan and northern Afghanistan. The province name of Khorasan refers to medieval Muslim empires in an area between parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. “The Islamic State of the Khorasan Province is a terrorist group affiliated with the self-styled Islamic State – writes the ISPI in its report – The group is an opponent of the Taliban and would count on about 1500-2200 effective militiamen , therefore a number not sufficient for a competition of power with the Taliban, but certainly a serious risk for the already precarious security of Afghanistan ”. Economic resources: mines and drug trafficking
The Afghan Isis withdraws inKhorasan where he managed to survive thanks to the control of some mines , including those of talc in the province of Nangahar on the border with Pakistan. In 2019, however, also thanks to the decision to enter the drug trafficking business , Isis-K raised its head. Thanks to more income, he managed to regain possession of several territories and today his presence has extended to several provinces (in Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan, Badakhshan). The three enemies of ISIS: the Taliban, the government of Kabul and the USA
Isis-K was opposed by the Taliban, deposed the government of Kabul and Western forces. For this reason, between 2019 and the first part of 2020 it was in great difficulty. Things have improved since June 2020, when the group got a new leader, perhaps Arab and not Pakistani like the previous ones. In the first four months of 2021, the UN mission in Afghanistan counted 77 attacks claimed or attributed to Isis-K , perpetrated against the Shiite minority, journalists, foreigners, military and civilian infrastructures. The ideological clash between the Taliban and Isis guerrillas
An ideological and religious clash is underway between the Taliban and Isis. “The Taliban are allies and protectors of Al Qaedathe older generation of jihadism from which the ISIS network wants to take away the primacy of the movement ”, adds director Vidino. According to the militiamen of the Islamic State , the Taliban have abandoned the Muslim faith , since they have agreed to deal with the Americans and are therefore considered too pragmatic and not rigorous enough in applying Islamic law. Isis-K aims to destroy the influence of the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan and from there to establish a base of global, anti-Western jihadism. The ideology is always the same: exporting the jihad and making a scorched earth of apostates and infidels, Muslim or not. Control of the territory: the difficulties of the Taliban
The Cesi report, “The return of the Taliban” had warned about the possibility that the Taliban could not maintain control over the entire Afghan territory, leaving room for the resurgence of violence by terrorist groups. “The commitment of the Taliban to guarantee the unavailability of the Afghan territory for the reorganization of terrorist groups may not be sufficient to guarantee the effective impermeability of the region to a new wave of radicalization”, writes CESI analyst Francesca Manent i. The Western powers, after the disastrous US retreat, fear that Afghanistan will once again become a “safe haven” for terrorist organizations. ISPI reports that according to data from the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),at least 77 terrorist attacks claimed by ISKP since the beginning of 2021 . Numbers that put a serious risk on the future instability of Afghanistan. The alarms of the western secret services
A few days before the attacks, the western secret services, in particular the British, had warned the allies of possible attacks. According to Charlie Winter, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Radicalization at the University of London , the airport and the departing crowds represent “a perfect meeting of different objectives” of the group: the American military, the pro-Western Afghans and the Taliban, who Isis-k considers apostates “. The jihadists managed to carry out the multiple attack despite the head of the CIA, William Burns, arrived in Kabul to meet with the head of the Taliban, Baradar, precisely in order to prevent this, claiming to have overwhelming evidence on the ongoing planning by ISIS. The rebirth of terrorism
The US retreat thus leaves Afghanistan free ground for the raids of terrorist groups and for the Isis that may have the ambition to rise again. The attack in Kabul leaves a message of unavailability to the powers that were thinking of extending their sphere of influence over Kabul. In short, the Taliban are not the only interlocutors in the area.
