What we know about the Islamic State Khorasan Province

New Delhi, Aug 27: The focus in Afghanistan has changed from the Taliban to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) following the deadly suicide bombings at the Kabul Airport on Thursday.

The ISKP has claimed responsibility for the attacks in which scores of people were targeted. The ISKP was established in the Nangarhar province in 2015. It has been at constant battle with the Taliban.

The first ISKP chief:

The first leader of the ISKP was Hafiz Saeed Khan, a Pakistan national who was part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban. Following his appointment, he brought in several from the TTP into the ISKP.

Abdul Rauf Kadim, a former commander of the Taliban was appointed as the Khan's deputy. Over the next couple of months several more from the TTK and the Lashkar-e-Islam joined the ISKP. It was growing into a potent force in Afghanistan and there were defections into the ISKP from the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

The rise and fall:

In 2016, when the ISIS was at its peak in Iraq and Syria, the group had around 4,000 terrorists in its fold in Afghanistan. However its downfall began in 2018 when there were a series of military strikes on its assets in Jowzjan, a province in northern Afghanistan.

Thanks to the series of these military strikes, the number of terrorists in the ISKP had come down to just 1,500. Estimates today suggest that the outfit today may comprise hardly around 1,000 terrorists.
A UN report says that the force continues to be prominent only in the Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. While the force is largely decentralised today, it still continues to pose a threat and the Kabul bombings are proof of the same.

Who leads the ISKP:

The first major blow that the ISKP suffered was when its leader Khan was killed in a US drone strike in 2015. He was replaced Abdul Hasib, but he was taken down by the US and Afghan forces in 2017. Under Hasib, the ISKP undertook a series of attacks including the one at the main military hospital in Kabul.

Following the death of Hasib, Abu Sayeed took over, but he was killed two months later. Since then the outfit is being run by Shahab-al-Mujahir also known as Sanaullah. He was a commander with the Haqqani Network before joining the ISKP.

Attacks by the ISKP:

In November the group carried out an attack at the Kabul University in which 22 people were killed. In the same month, the ISKP launched a mortar attack in a residential area in Kabul in which 8 people were killed.

In May 2020, the ISKP killed 16 people at a maternity ward in Kabul which was run by the Doctors Without Borders Charity.

Last December, the outfit launched a rocket attack at the airport in Kabul. The outfit also carried out a car bomb attack outside a girl's school in Kabul. 165 including 68 students were killed in the attack. The ISKP was also involved in the Kabul Gurudwara attack in which 25 people were killed.

The ISKP-Taliban relationship:

When the ISKP was formed, Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour had written to the ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to stop the recruitment drive. The ISIS had started recruiting disgruntled Taliban fighters. Mansour had said in the letter that any activity by the ISIS in Afghanistan should be carried out under the leadership of the Taliban.

However the letter was not paid heed to and fighting broke out between the two factions within the Taliban in Zabul Province on whether or not to join the ISIS. In April 2017, the ISIS took into captivity several drug dealers who were selling opium to raise funds for the Taliban. This led to more clashes and 20 terrorists were killed in the fighting.

In July there were more conflicts and the ISIS suffered further setbacks. It was in February 2020 the Donald Trump Administration signed a peace accord with the Taliban in Doha and the outfit pledged that it would keep the ISIS and other extremist groups out of Afghanistan.

Currently, according to estimates there are around 2,000 ISIS terrorists remaining in Afghanistan. It may be recalled that around 23 persons from Kerala too had left for Afghanistan to join the ISIS. Many have died, while some have been captured.