Islamic Republic of Afghanistan : News & Discussions
- Thread starter Butter Chicken
- Start date
Those dipshits are like the plague. What are their aims in Afghanistan? Turn it into a hard-line Islamic country? Oh... wait....(IS-K), K is for Khorasan
Islamic State – Khorasan Province - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
If the TTP is of any use to the Taliban, perhaps IS-K is useful to ISI...
And i wonder how many Uyghurs, in these is-k...
And meanwhile, there is not much talk about alqaeda anymore.
Pakistan's geopolitical strategy against Afghanistan is to keep it destabilized so that they can't become an effective stabilised nation because of the region's history to expand towards the east. Afghanistan is basically the staging ground for invasion into the indian subcontinent. Historically has been. With Arabs, Turks, Turco mongols and following converted Afghans setting up bases their to invade the subcontinent.
When Pakistan was created the Afghans the Durand line was not recognised as legitimate and the fighting started between the two. The pakistanis have focused on setting up and creating seperatist or terrorist groups using saudi funded madrassahs in kpk and other parts of pakistan to radicalise the pashtun population and use them as cannon fodder. So during the era of the Soviets it was the mujahideen. Once the mujahideen won they used the Taliban, AL-qaeda and haqqani's. Americans came they started using them again.
Now that the Taliban has won and has defied the Pakistani government so they have started funding ISKP to keep screwing the Afghans.
In Astan, you mean? Another date could be 2020/02/29: the Doha’s US-Taliban deal and the commitment by the Taliban to prevent Al Qaeda from operating in Taliban-controlled areas.
But aQ has spread almost everywhere in the world. Under various names, franchises are active in: Sahara, West Africa, East Africa (shabaabs), Arabian Peninsula (the "base", homeland: Yemen), Kashmir (Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind), Bangladesh, i've read in Assam too, Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia, Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, etc.
But they've been unable to organise large terror attacks against North America and Europe since 2011.
Jan.2015 CharlieHebdo & HyperCasher.
Charlie Hebdo shooting - Wikipedia
Islamic state of khorasan.
Who is Islamic State–Khorasan Province group that attacked Kabul Gurdwara?
Islamic State-Khorasan Province is considered to be the most violent of all the militant groups based in Afghanistan.
www.freepressjournal.in
They were IS, not AQ.Jan.2015 CharlieHebdo & HyperCasher.
i’m pretty sure you’ve heard about it.Charlie Hebdo shooting - Wikipedia
Okay, but still a very small scale attack relative to 9/11 and Madrid. Killing the AQ leadership destroyed their ability to conduct massive, well-planned attacks.
(IS-K, feb.22)
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(France24, feb.10/2022))
Most recently he is thought to have organised a deadly assault on the Kabul airport last August as US troops staged a chaotic pullout after years of counterinsurgency efforts.
The US exit allowed a return to power of the Taliban, whom the even more hardline Islamic State accuses of failing to strictly apply Shariah law.
In recent years IS-K -- the name refers to a region encompassing swaths of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia -- has carried out dozens of deadly attacks under Ghafari's guidance.
"Ghafari is responsible for approving all (IS-K) operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations," the US State Department said this week in offering a $10 million reward for helping to find him.
The bounty was announced after US President Joe Biden said last week that IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi blew himself up during an American raid on his hideout in Syria, in a major blow to the group.
Little is known about Ghafari, thought to be born in 1994, reportedly in Afghanistan or Iraq, according to experts at the CounterExtremism Project.
An IS statement called him "an experienced military leader... one of the 'urban lions' of (IS-K) in Kabul who assisted in planning and carrying out guerrilla operations along with suicide and complex attacks," the New York-based CEP said in a recent report.
The group claimed responsibility for 340 attacks last year after a "trough" in 2020, according to the Switzerland-based Jihad Analytics (JA), which focuses on the online communications and on-the-ground operations of extremist groups.
"In 2021, it recovered and succeeded in carrying out bloody attacks across a wider territory after the return of the Taliban," JA's founder Damien Ferre told AFP.
Besides the Kabul airport assault that left 185 people dead including 13 American soldiers, Ghafari is also believed to have orchestrated the sophisticated siege of the Jalalabad prison in Afghanistan in August 2020, which freed hundreds of IS fighters.
"His goal has been to guide the organisation out of this period of relative decline first by doubling down on sectarian attacks against vulnerable minorities and then by launching a revitalised war against the Afghan Taliban," analysts Amira Jadoon and Andrew Mines wrote in a report published by War on the Rocks, a US-based military affairs website.
At the same time, Ghafari has urged his lieutenants to provide welfare and other social services, bolstering his image as a capable leader.
"IS-K will be able to further undermine the Taliban's position of power by engaging in inter-tribal diplomacy and winning over the local population that is disgruntled with a Taliban government," according to Asif Fuard, a security researcher at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka.
Ghafari is also reported to be looking to extend beyond Afghanistan, according to the CEP, enjoying close ties with IS's top leaders.
He has been named chief of its Al-Sadiq branch, which covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian states as well as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
His momentum could attract additional IS recruits from around the world, bolstering IS-K numbers currently estimated at some 4,000 fighters, according to a United Nations experts panel.
"The high-profile suicide terror attacks of the IS-K... and the Taliban's failure to maintain control of their borders could turn Afghanistan into another hot spot for ISIS's followers from the Middle East, South and Central Asia," Uran Botobekov, an expert on jihadism, wrote in a recent report for the Modern Diplomacy website.
www.france24.com
-
(France24, feb.10/2022))
Sanaullah Ghafari, IS operative in Washington's sights
Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, has led the Islamic State-Khorosan (IS-K) branch since June 2020, overseeing cells charged with carrying out terror attacks, establishing ties with local leaders and raising funds.Most recently he is thought to have organised a deadly assault on the Kabul airport last August as US troops staged a chaotic pullout after years of counterinsurgency efforts.
The US exit allowed a return to power of the Taliban, whom the even more hardline Islamic State accuses of failing to strictly apply Shariah law.
In recent years IS-K -- the name refers to a region encompassing swaths of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia -- has carried out dozens of deadly attacks under Ghafari's guidance.
"Ghafari is responsible for approving all (IS-K) operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations," the US State Department said this week in offering a $10 million reward for helping to find him.
The bounty was announced after US President Joe Biden said last week that IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi blew himself up during an American raid on his hideout in Syria, in a major blow to the group.
Little is known about Ghafari, thought to be born in 1994, reportedly in Afghanistan or Iraq, according to experts at the CounterExtremism Project.
An IS statement called him "an experienced military leader... one of the 'urban lions' of (IS-K) in Kabul who assisted in planning and carrying out guerrilla operations along with suicide and complex attacks," the New York-based CEP said in a recent report.
Growing ambitions
Ghafari's network has proven its capacity for deadly efficiency, targeting civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.The group claimed responsibility for 340 attacks last year after a "trough" in 2020, according to the Switzerland-based Jihad Analytics (JA), which focuses on the online communications and on-the-ground operations of extremist groups.
"In 2021, it recovered and succeeded in carrying out bloody attacks across a wider territory after the return of the Taliban," JA's founder Damien Ferre told AFP.
Besides the Kabul airport assault that left 185 people dead including 13 American soldiers, Ghafari is also believed to have orchestrated the sophisticated siege of the Jalalabad prison in Afghanistan in August 2020, which freed hundreds of IS fighters.
"His goal has been to guide the organisation out of this period of relative decline first by doubling down on sectarian attacks against vulnerable minorities and then by launching a revitalised war against the Afghan Taliban," analysts Amira Jadoon and Andrew Mines wrote in a report published by War on the Rocks, a US-based military affairs website.
At the same time, Ghafari has urged his lieutenants to provide welfare and other social services, bolstering his image as a capable leader.
"IS-K will be able to further undermine the Taliban's position of power by engaging in inter-tribal diplomacy and winning over the local population that is disgruntled with a Taliban government," according to Asif Fuard, a security researcher at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka.
Ghafari is also reported to be looking to extend beyond Afghanistan, according to the CEP, enjoying close ties with IS's top leaders.
He has been named chief of its Al-Sadiq branch, which covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian states as well as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
His momentum could attract additional IS recruits from around the world, bolstering IS-K numbers currently estimated at some 4,000 fighters, according to a United Nations experts panel.
"The high-profile suicide terror attacks of the IS-K... and the Taliban's failure to maintain control of their borders could turn Afghanistan into another hot spot for ISIS's followers from the Middle East, South and Central Asia," Uran Botobekov, an expert on jihadism, wrote in a recent report for the Modern Diplomacy website.
Sanaullah Ghafari, IS operative in Washington's sights
Hoping to further destabilise the Islamic State group following its leader's death, US officials have turned their focus to an architect of the insurgents' bloody revival in Afghanistan since losing…
www.france24.com
most of the attacks in afghanistan are carried out by pakistan itself. ISIS is just another smokescreen for pakistan to keep taliban in check, they are just playing both the sides.(IS-K, feb.22)
-
(France24, feb.10/2022))
Sanaullah Ghafari, IS operative in Washington's sights
Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, has led the Islamic State-Khorosan (IS-K) branch since June 2020, overseeing cells charged with carrying out terror attacks, establishing ties with local leaders and raising funds.
Most recently he is thought to have organised a deadly assault on the Kabul airport last August as US troops staged a chaotic pullout after years of counterinsurgency efforts.
The US exit allowed a return to power of the Taliban, whom the even more hardline Islamic State accuses of failing to strictly apply Shariah law.
In recent years IS-K -- the name refers to a region encompassing swaths of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia -- has carried out dozens of deadly attacks under Ghafari's guidance.
"Ghafari is responsible for approving all (IS-K) operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations," the US State Department said this week in offering a $10 million reward for helping to find him.
The bounty was announced after US President Joe Biden said last week that IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi blew himself up during an American raid on his hideout in Syria, in a major blow to the group.
Little is known about Ghafari, thought to be born in 1994, reportedly in Afghanistan or Iraq, according to experts at the CounterExtremism Project.
An IS statement called him "an experienced military leader... one of the 'urban lions' of (IS-K) in Kabul who assisted in planning and carrying out guerrilla operations along with suicide and complex attacks," the New York-based CEP said in a recent report.
Growing ambitions
Ghafari's network has proven its capacity for deadly efficiency, targeting civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.
The group claimed responsibility for 340 attacks last year after a "trough" in 2020, according to the Switzerland-based Jihad Analytics (JA), which focuses on the online communications and on-the-ground operations of extremist groups.
"In 2021, it recovered and succeeded in carrying out bloody attacks across a wider territory after the return of the Taliban," JA's founder Damien Ferre told AFP.
Besides the Kabul airport assault that left 185 people dead including 13 American soldiers, Ghafari is also believed to have orchestrated the sophisticated siege of the Jalalabad prison in Afghanistan in August 2020, which freed hundreds of IS fighters.
"His goal has been to guide the organisation out of this period of relative decline first by doubling down on sectarian attacks against vulnerable minorities and then by launching a revitalised war against the Afghan Taliban," analysts Amira Jadoon and Andrew Mines wrote in a report published by War on the Rocks, a US-based military affairs website.
At the same time, Ghafari has urged his lieutenants to provide welfare and other social services, bolstering his image as a capable leader.
"IS-K will be able to further undermine the Taliban's position of power by engaging in inter-tribal diplomacy and winning over the local population that is disgruntled with a Taliban government," according to Asif Fuard, a security researcher at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka.
Ghafari is also reported to be looking to extend beyond Afghanistan, according to the CEP, enjoying close ties with IS's top leaders.
He has been named chief of its Al-Sadiq branch, which covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian states as well as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
His momentum could attract additional IS recruits from around the world, bolstering IS-K numbers currently estimated at some 4,000 fighters, according to a United Nations experts panel.
"The high-profile suicide terror attacks of the IS-K... and the Taliban's failure to maintain control of their borders could turn Afghanistan into another hot spot for ISIS's followers from the Middle East, South and Central Asia," Uran Botobekov, an expert on jihadism, wrote in a recent report for the Modern Diplomacy website.
Sanaullah Ghafari, IS operative in Washington's sights
Hoping to further destabilise the Islamic State group following its leader's death, US officials have turned their focus to an architect of the insurgents' bloody revival in Afghanistan since losing…
There is no doubt that real ISIS and taliban had friction wrt to who is going to be the top dog in the region but wrt to ideology they are all the same.
yeah thats how it works, now they will get taste of their own medicine. As a state they provide large surface area for attacks compared to when being terrorist who can hide any where.
Depends on what exactly different people interpret at massive attacks. I consider IS attack during Western powers evacuation at Kabul airport same as the attacks in New Delhi or London. Priorities decide which one to interpret as massive attacks. And yes no attack happens without quite a plan.
Aside, I am not too sure if you & many other western world people are aware that it's India which has filled the ranks & file of intelligence community in Afghanistan, on the ground intelligence and a major contributor of technical intelligence after western world powers pulled their staffers and bulk of intelligence assets many of whom took refuge in India.
I am not all too happy on their conditions as I know for a fact that our people are there toiling daily on the ground for make do whatever way they can manage, to not only support local people but also prevent attacks on home soil.
Our understanding has grown in big way, not because of fondness of Taliban but on the ground reality. Either of Afghan parties don't have the numbers on their own to maintain peace untill & unless they cobble a stable coalition. That's the ultimate goal...
I would determine massive as >100 killed. It had got to that stage, and that's why action needed to be taken.
Good to know.
This is what I said about Afghanistan. It's tribal warring through and through since 1973, there's no end to it. Pointless trying to do anything constructive there.