Isis-K, because the Afghan branch that signed the Moscow massacre could become the new al-Qaeda

The war on the Taliban

In 2022, ISKP shifted to targeting primarily the Taliban, with nearly 75% of its attacks directed against the new Afghan leadership. The conflict between the Taliban and ISIS-K is mainly based on territorial disputes and the Taliban’s application of sharia, while the ISKP wants an even stricter version of sharia.

ISIS-K harbors a (reciprocal) hatred of the Taliban and attracts those with even more radical views than the Islamist group that rules Afghanistan. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, ISIS-K refuses to recognize the Taliban as legitimate Islamic leaders because they have a narrow platform “instead of engaging in universal Islamic jihad.” For this reason, recent ISIS-K attacks have largely been aimed at the Taliban and other symbolic targets, as well as Afghanistan’s Shia Muslim minorities, particularly the ethnic Hazaras.

Operations abroad

The group has also begun conducting operations abroad, claiming responsibility for deadly attacks in Pakistan and Iran, such as one during General Soleimani’s funeral in January this year that left around a hundred victims. In response to the Koran burnings in the Netherlands and Sweden, ISKP also publicly named these countries as possible future targets.

Comparison with pre-9/11 Afghanistan

As the Taliban continues to scale back security investments, analysts say ISIS-K could grow significantly. According to the International Center for Counter-Terrorism, ISIS is in an Afghanistan where the internal security situation resembles pre-9/11 Afghanistan. ISKP therefore has the potential to continue to transform itself into a transnational threat.

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