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Afghanistan
This Week in Asia

Isis-K escalates terror attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan in show of resistance against Taliban

  • Regional chapter of Islamic State becoming stronger; ‘may try to capture territory from Taliban if its numbers keep growing’, says analyst
  • But experts also say Isis-K unlikely to directly threaten China although it could target Chinese assets in Pakistan to fuel tension between the allies

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Members of the Taliban stand guard at the scene of an operation against Isis-K in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in November 2021.The Taliban have been pursuing a nationwide clearance operation against Isis-K for weeks, killing or arresting fighters. Photo: EPA-EFE
Tom Hussain
A fast-escalating wave of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the regional chapter of Islamic State (Isis) suggests the jihadist group is methodically exploiting political opportunities to establish itself as the pre-eminent resistance to the Taliban regime in Kabul and its allies in Pakistan.
Since the departure of United States-led forces from Afghanistan in August, Islamic State Khorasan (Isis-K) has waged a terrorist campaign in Kabul and guerilla warfare against Taliban forces in most provinces bordering Pakistan.
Afghan people sitting inside a US military aircraft preparing to leave Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19, 2021 after the Taliban’s military takeover of the country. Photo: AFP
Afghan people sitting inside a US military aircraft preparing to leave Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19, 2021 after the Taliban’s military takeover of the country. Photo: AFP

Between September 18 and November 30, Isis-K carried out 76 attacks on Taliban forces – 85 per cent of the total in Afghanistan – compared to eight in the whole of 2020, according to data compiled by Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based security specialist on radical militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Last year, Isis-K launched 84 attacks in Afghanistan, compared to 304 in the first 11 months of 2021, he noted in a recent post on Twitter.

Evidence of closer coordination between Isis-K and the Middle East-based central leadership prompted the US to designate a top Isis-K fundraiser, Ismatullah Khalozai, as a global terrorist on November 22.

Relatives and friends stand next to graves of victims of a suicide bomb attack on worshippers at a Shiite mosque, in which at least 55 people died, in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2021. Photo: AFP
Relatives and friends stand next to graves of victims of a suicide bomb attack on worshippers at a Shiite mosque, in which at least 55 people died, in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2021. Photo: AFP

“This individual has provided support to Isis-k’s operations in Afghanistan by facilitating international financial transactions that fund human trafficking networks and facilitating the movement of foreign fighters who seek to escalate tensions in Afghanistan and the region,” the US Treasury Department said in a press statement.

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