ISIS bombing in Kabul underscores group's growing threat

KABUL -- The "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) has claimed a bombing on a minibus that killed one person and wounded 11 in a Shia-dominated neighborhood of Kabul.

Kabul police August 11 said the blast occurred in a western Kabul neighborhood home to many Shia Muslims, a historically persecuted Afghan minority and a frequent target of ISIS, which considers them heretics.

Italian nongovernmental organization Emergency NGO, which operates a hospital in Kabul, said on the X platform that it had received eight people wounded in the blast, with seven in need of surgery and one "in a serious condition."

ISIS earlier claimed an attack targeting tourists in Afghanistan in May that killed six people, including three foreigners.

It took responsibility for killing 145 people in a Moscow concert hall in March.

Growing threat

A United Nations (UN) counterterrorism official August 8 warned that ISIS's Khorasan branch (ISIS-K) poses the greatest external terrorist threat to Europe as it boosts its organizational strength.

"ISIS-K has improved its financial and logistical capabilities in the past six months, including by tapping into Afghan and Central Asian diasporas for support," Vladimir Voronkov, under-secretary-general for counter-terrorism, said.

On August 7, Austrian authorities detained ISIS-linked suspects for allegedly plotting to strike a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, though no link has been reported to the ISIS-K branch.

But the risk of ISIS-K carrying out terrorist attacks abroad has "become manifest," Voronkov said, noting the group has also intensified its recruitment efforts.

The latest report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the subject, published last month, noted that authorities were on high alert against potential attacks during the Euro football championship and Paris Olympics.

"I call on all member states to unite to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a hotbed of terrorist activities that affect other countries," Guterres wrote.

Elsewhere, Voronkov warned of resurgence of ISIS's core structure in the Middle East, as well as a deteriorating situation in Africa, where ISIS—West Africa Province and ISIS's Sahel branch "have expanded and consolidated their areas of operations."

"Should these groups extend their influence... a vast territory stretching from Mali to northern Nigeria could fall under their effective control," he said, while also noting increasing attacks by ISIS affiliates in Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia.