ISIS-K is an example of how the new instability is feeding several jihadist cells in the region
The ghastly suicide attacks outside the chaos-ridden Kabul airport are reminders that the threat of jihadist terrorism has grown since the US’s disastrous exit from Afghanistan and the return of Taliban to power. Having claimed victims as wide-ranging as departing American soldiers, Afghan civilians and Taliban fighters, these audacious strikes highlight the menace of the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and other boundary-defying terrorist groups to the stability of not just Afghanistan but its extended neighbourhood.
How is ISIS-K more extreme than Taliban?
Unlike Taliban, who present themselves as Afghan nationalists and champions of Pashtun interests, ISIS-K are inspired by the main Islamic State in the Middle East that had declared a worldwide ‘Caliphate’ in 2014. ISIS-K’s core leadership and cadres come from Pakistan and Uzbekistan and are more extreme in thought and method than Taliban.
How is ISIS-K more extreme than Taliban?
Unlike Taliban, who present themselves as Afghan nationalists and champions of Pashtun interests, ISIS-K are inspired by the main Islamic State in the Middle East that had declared a worldwide ‘Caliphate’ in 2014. ISIS-K’s core leadership and cadres come from Pakistan and Uzbekistan and are more extreme in thought and method than Taliban.