Topline
The U.S. withdrawal from Taliban-run Afghanistan was accompanied by a deadly attack at Kabul's airport on Thursday. This has given rise to Islamic State-Khorasan (also known as ISIS-K/IS-K), a terrorist group with a local base that is both allied with the Taliban.
Afghans still wait in Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The Key Facts
Important Background
McKenzie stated that suicide bombers attacked Kabul's airport gate and a nearby hotel on Thursday. They killed American troops guarding the airfield. ISIS gunmen opened fire shortly afterwards at military personnel and civilians in Afghanistan. This attack occurs less than two weeks following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul. The U.S.-backed Afghan government was deposed. The U.S. military plans to end evacuations and pull its last troops out of Kabul on Tuesday. This will bring an end to the 20-year-long war between the United States and Afghanistan.
What to Watch
McKenzie said Thursday that he anticipates more Islamic State threats over the next few days. However, the military plans to continue evacuating people. According to McKenzie, U.S. officials have been coordinating security with Taliban, who is operating checkpoints at airport perimeter. He said that they believe they want to continue these attacks.
Tangent
Roggio stated that fighters joined IS-K both for small and large reasons. Roggio said that some may have shared the Islamic States' hardline ideology, which includes its violent tactics and lofty goal to hold large areas of territory and form an international Islamic caliphate. PBS Frontline was told last year by an Islamic State official that he had recruited ex-Taliban soldiers who opposed the U.S.-Taliban ceasefire. Roggio said that other Taliban members split off after frustrations with the Talibans organization and IS-K's higher salaries. He also confused about the status of Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, whose death in 2013 went unreported for many years.
Contra
IS-K is far smaller than the Taliban. According to a report by a United Nations monitoring group, the group had between 1,500 to 2,200 members in eastern Afghanistan during June. This compares to approximately 75,000 Taliban fighters, which Biden estimated last month.
Important Quote
Roggio stated that the Islamic State was a tertiary actor. While they can carry out terrorist attacks, bombings and assassinations, it is clear that the Taliban controls the ground while the Islamic State is underground.
Surprising Fact
For years, the U.S. military targeted IS-K with airstrikes. The animosity between the U.S. government and the Talibans led to informal and unspoken cooperation, Washington Post reporter Wesley Morgan said last year. The Post reported that the United States monitored communications of the Taliban and conducted anti-ISK airstrikes in areas used by the militant group. This led some U.S. personnel, who were not named, to jokely call their team the Taliban Air Force. McKenzie informed Congress that the United States had only provided limited support to the Taliban's highly effective anti-ISK operation in eastern Afghanistan in the early 2020.
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Washington Post: Our secret Taliban air force
Recent attacks in Afghanistan linked to Islamic State (Reuters)
