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Taliban and the “ISIS in Khorasan” any Confrontation in Afghanistan?
It seems that there is competition and the possibility of the Khorasan Province carrying out terrorist operations. Khorasan is hostile to Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021.
Sullivan, US National Security Adviser said that the expulsion of Americans from Afghanistan by Taliban is a "risky process" as it depends on whether the Taliban will continue to allow safe passage to the airport and other emergencies such as a possible attack from a militant group such as Khorasan Province. .
Khorasan Province
Khorasan Province It was founded by a group of militants and defectors from the Pakistan Taliban movement also known as the Punjab Taliban and the Afghan Taliban in 2015. The "Khorasan Province" according to their ideology includes Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, but the organization is still known as "ISIS" in Afghanistan.
A great number of Salafist and jihadists joined the Khorasan Organization, in order to fight other armed movements such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as well as the regional governments. The "Khorasan Province" includes all of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, but the organization is still known as ISIS in Afghanistan.
The Afghan security forces arrested the leader of the ISIS branch in Khorasan Province in Afghanistan, Islam Farooq, also known as Abdullah Orakzai, during an "intelligence operation" in early April 2020. The Afghan branch of ISIS escalated its attacks in the Afghan capital, often targeting religious minorities.The Khorasan organization has been facing operations launched by the US forces, and by Taliban movement.
The "Khorasan" organization is considered one of the most powerful branches of the "ISIS" organization, because of its ability to spread, especially in the Pakistani tribal areas and the province of "Nanjarhar", and some areas of "Kunar" province; and strength its control over a number of areas, and imposing its strict laws .
The "Khorasan Province" organization is distinguished by the professionalism of its fighters, and their possession of high military and organizational experience, given that most of them were former members of the "Taliban" movement, before they split from it and sold ISIS.
There has been a noticeable increase in the movement of fighters belonging to ISIS to Afghanistan in order to join the so-called "Khorasan Province", in conjunction with the defeats suffered by the organization in Iraq and Syria in 2017.
Confrontation in AfghanistanIt is good to know, that, there is an“ideological” dispute between the Taliban movement and the “Khorasan Province,” the Taliban belong to “Deobandi” ideologically which is the name of a town in the Indian subcontinent, and, it also shares with “Salafist Jihadist” and “Muhammad ibin Taymiyyah.”
It is expected that Afghanistan-Khorasan will witness more polarization to extremist groups, especially joining the Khorasan Province from Iraq, Syria, Africa and Europe, and this means that the Khorasan Province may witness a wide growth of terror in near future.
The competition will remain between the Taliban and the Khorasan Province, because the latter includes large numbers of defectors from the Taliban movement. The possibility of the Khorasan Province carrying out terrorist operations in Afghanistan remains hight, perhaps targeting the corridors leading to the Kabul airport, while large numbers of Afghans are heading to the airport, or targeting the Kabul airport, which is still under the control of the American forces. The scene at Kabul airport will be more complicated if the United States delays the transfer of its nationals and Afghan citizens until after August 31, 2021. levant
By : Jassim Muhammad - Bonn
The_Levant_News
