![Medical staff move a wounded youth outside a hospital in Kabul on April 19, 2022, after two bombs rocked a boys' school in a Shia Hazara neighborhood, killing at least 6 people. [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2024/08/22/47400-afp__20220419__328j8y4__v3__highres__topshotafghanistanblastschool-739_416.webp)
KABUL -- Last week's attack by "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria"'s Khorasan branch (ISIS-K) in Kabul has intensified concerns over the group's expanding operations in Afghanistan.
ISIS-K on August 11 claimed responsibility for an attack on a minibus carrying Shia civilians in western Kabul, killing one and injuring 11.
Since early March, ISIS-K has committed seven terrorist acts in Afghanistan, most of which have targeted Shia Muslims.
The United Nations (UN) Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team voiced alarm in a July report over the escalating threat of ISIS-K in Afghanistan.
The group has been actively recruiting ethnic Tajik and Uzbek fighters from northern Afghanistan and is amassing weapons and explosives in remote areas, it said.
ISIS-K has dispersed from its central areas in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, with one group moving to Badakhshan and others to Herat and Nimroz provinces, the report said.
'Endless' grief, suffering
Mohsen Rezaei, 27, was among those injured in the latest ISIS-K attack. On April 9, his brother was injured in an ISIS-K bombing in western Kabul.
"It hasn't even been four months since my brother was severely injured in an ISIS explosion, and he still can't walk," Rezaei said earlier this month.
"Now I’m injured as well, and this pain has struck our family once again."
Rezaei's hand injury will require medical attention for at least a month.
"The grief and suffering caused by ISIS seem endless," he said. "Every time we lose loved ones ... we can never forget the pain, and then another attack happens, renewing and deepening our sorrow."
Rezaei expressed fear that while he was only injured this time, he might die when ISIS-K strikes again.
Serious concerns
ISIS-K's activities in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly alarming and must be taken seriously, said Wali Mohammad Paiman, a military analyst based in Herat.
"The concerns of the [UN] and some countries about the growing activities of ISIS-K in Afghanistan are real and tangible," he said. "We cannot ignore this grave threat by misleading the public and the world."
ISIS-K's core is based in Afghanistan and in the tribal and insecure areas of Pakistan, said Paiman. It poses a growing danger to Afghanistan and other countries, he added.
"After several months of silence, the recent ISIS attack on Shia civilians in Kabul indicates that this terrorist group is capable of carrying out more attacks," he said. "To prevent such attacks, serious security measures must be implemented in provinces and areas under threat."
The Taliban say that the ISIS has no presence in Afghanistan. Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban's chief of staff, who usually appears in a turban and civilian clothes, while is now seen in military uniform in the video, said ISIS had been destroyed in Afghanistan. Fitrat said, ISIS has no physical presence in Afghanistan and cannot prove as a threat to Afghanistan and its inhabitants. He said this in answer to US officials who had previously said that ISIS was present in Afghanistan and could become a major threat. Meanwhile, Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff of the Afghan armed forces, confirmed that sometimes destructive activities are carried out in some places, but the Islamic Emirate of Taliban has tried to reduce it to zero. And if such operations are carried out, soon they are prevented or the perpetrators are eliminated. He said it is possible as others are involved in such incidents who wanted to disrupt security. He reiterated that ISIS is completely eliminated in Afghanistan. For more information, I will send you a video of the speech of Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff of the Afghan armed forces. As an ordinary Afghan, I call on all Afghan armed and unarmed (political) groups to resolve the issue of Afghanistan through dialogue and not to let Afghanistan go back to the previous years and decades. On one hand, the problem of our country cannot be solved through war, while on the other hand, the world, especially Americans and Europeans, are tired of helping our people
ReplyAs long as the Taliban government does not come to terms with the international community, especially with the United States, they will never succeed in political, economic and even military affairs. Although the Taliban claim that they were successful against the coalition forces, the truth is that neither the US nor the other members of the coalition used their full capacity in the 20-year war in Afghanistan. One fact that is obvious to everyone is that Pakistan played a double game against the Afghan government, the international coalition and especially against the United States. On one hand, they took billions of dollars from the United States under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and on the other hand, they kept the Taliban in their military centers in Quetta, Peshawar and Rawalpindi. Even when the representatives of the Taliban were sent to Qatar, the Pakistani media wrote that the Pakistani government and actually the Pakistani army took USD3 billion from the United States to bring the Taliban leaders to the talks with the United States. Death to terrorist Pakistan.
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