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“Every day that we are, there is a day when we know that Isis-K plans to attack the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent civilians,” Biden said.
ISIS stands for Islamic State, a jihadist group that operates in Syria and Iraq. And what is Isis-K, and why does this move already pose such a threat to American forces leaving Afghanistan fairly quickly?
Analysts say what is important is that this extremist group is far from being friends with the Taliban, who have recently taken control of Afghanistan.
How did Isis-K come about?
Isis-K is an offshoot of the jihadist terrorist Islamic State (IS), according to The Daily Telegraph. ISIS had occupied large areas of Syria and Iraq a few years ago.
Photo from 123RF.com / Islamic State Flag
The sister movement in Afghanistan has been active since 2014 and is most active in eastern Afghanistan, in the historic Chorasan region.
According to the US Center for Strategic and International Studies, Isis-K organized hundreds of attacks against civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2015-2017. In addition, some 250 attacks have been carried out simultaneously against US, Afghan and Pakistani forces.
Isis-K is said to be seeking to increase its ranks in Kabul, where Western allies are desperately trying to evacuate as many Afghans as possible.
A UN expert report later said the group consisted of 500-1200 fighters. It is true that some analysts believe that in the coming years their number could reach 10,000.
Isis-K is now said to be seeking to increase its ranks in Kabul, where Western allies are desperately trying to evacuate as many Afghans as posed by the life-threatening Taliban regime.
VIDEO: In Afghanistan, evacuation must be completed by August 31; if the process is delayed, there will be consequences.
Hafiz Saeed Khan, the founder of Isis-K, was assassinated by US forces in 2016. But he was replaced by Shabab Muhajir, an Iraqi national.
How is Isis-K in agreement with the Taliban?
The relationship between the two movements is not friendly. They compete for both ideology and territory.
US intelligence officials believe that some Isis-K fighters have left the Taliban camp in the past. Furthermore, there are unconfirmed reports that the Taliban had already executed a high-ranking Isis-K leader in August.
Earlier this year, the Taliban also announced that they had completely “cleansed” the northern province of Zhuzhan of Isis-K fighters. Territories in northwestern Afghanistan have also been conquered in recent weeks.
AFP / “Scanpix” nuotr./Talibanas
Finally, in Jalalabad, a city in eastern Afghanistan, hundreds of Isis-K fighters surrendered to the Taliban.
The IS propaganda bulletin recently wrote that the Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan was organized by the Americans themselves. The group also mocked the Taliban, claiming that the real jihadists are IS fighters.
Why is the West concerned about Isis-K?
According to Jiden Sullivan, Biden’s adviser on national security, the threat that Isis-K decides to attack the Kabul airport is “real, serious and incessant.” That is why many heavily armed soldiers are on duty there.
“We can use any tool in our arsenal for this purpose,” Sullivan told CNN, and sources in The New York Times added that there could be plans to launch a rocket at an evacuation plane.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / USA Evacuates people at Kabul airport
Another possibility is suicide killers, who would intervene among thousands of people who seek to find themselves in the territory of the Kabul airport and fly out of Afghanistan and then explode.
Is the group a threat in Europe?
Analysts say there is currently a fear that people evacuated from Afghanistan may be fled by people who pose a “direct threat” to the UK and other Western countries that promise to host thousands of Afghan refugees.
British lawmakers have already heard this week that security checks at Kabul airport have revealed six people who have been officially banned from flying to the UK. In addition, one of them was able to reach Birmingham airport.
True, after further inspection, it was announced that this person is no longer considered potentially dangerous.
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