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FDD’s Long War Journal’s response to Zalmay Khalilzad’s Twitter thread
FDD’s Long War Journal responds to the former ambassador’s assertion that assessments of Afghanistan once again becoming a terrorist safe haven are false.
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Islamic State bombs Taliban convoys in eastern Afghanistan
The Islamic State claims to have attacked multiple Taliban personnel and vehicles across the city of Jalalabad on Sept. 18 and 19.
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Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombing in Kabul
The Islamic State’s Khorasan province has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside of the Kabul airport earlier today. 12 U.S. service members were killed and 15 others wounded in a pair of attacks inside the capital. Dozens of others were killed or wounded as well.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 21 – An ISIS Jailbreak in Afghanistan
ISIS orchestrated an assault on the main prison in Jalalabad earlier this month. Afghan officials immediately accused the Taliban of planning the attack.
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Islamic State claims prison raid in eastern Afghanistan
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a prison assault in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The facility reportedly holds about 1,500 inmates. It’s not clear how many were freed.
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Arrests in Germany highlight reach of Islamic State’s Central Asian network
German prosecutors announced last week that four alleged ISIS members were arrested and charged with planning attacks against U.S. military facilities. The four are from Tajikistan, a Central Asian country ISIS has long targeted for its recruiting efforts.
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U.S. designates ISIS-supporting brothers based in Turkey
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced a new round of counterterrorism designations targeting the Islamic State’s support networks in Turkey, Afghanistan and the Gulf.
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Islamic State suicide bomber strikes wedding in Kabul
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at a hotel where a wedding party was celebrating. ISIS-K claims the bombing operation was two-part. After a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the hotel, a car bomb was detonated outside.
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UN: Islamic State replaced leader in Afghanistan after visit from central leadership
According to a recently released report submitted to the UN Security Council, the Islamic State’s central leadership replaced the group’s head in Afghanistan earlier this year. The leadership change reportedly occurred after an Islamic State “core delegation” visited the country.
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Islamic State launches mortars at memorial service in Kabul
Earlier today, the Islamic State’s Khorasan “province” attacked a memorial held in honor of Abdul Ali Mazari, an ethnic Hazara leader who was killed by the Taliban in 1995. The Islamic State’s loyalists frequently target Shiites in the Afghan capital.
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UN: Al Qaeda continues to view Afghanistan as a ‘safe haven’
According to the UN’s Jan. 2019 assessment, al Qaeda’s relationship with the Taliban is “long-standing” and “strong.” And al Qaeda “continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership.” The UN estimates that the Islamic State has several thousand fighters in Afghanistan as well.
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NATO touts efficacy of Afghan crisis response unit
A team of nine Islamic State jihadists launched a mortar attack in Kabul yesterday as President Ashraf Ghani was delivering a speech. NATO’s Resolute Support touts the efficacy of the Afghans’ response, but the Islamic State’s network continues to regularly launch operations in the Afghan capital.
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Islamic State claims suicide bombing near ceremony for Afghanistan’s returning vice president
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that struck near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul only minutes after Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum passed through the area.
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Taliban and Islamic State target religious opponents in Afghanistan
According to a State Department report published this week, the Taliban continues “to assassinate and threaten religious leaders with death for preaching messages contrary to” its “interpretation of Islam or its political agenda.” As part of its widespread assassination campaign, Taliban gunmen have been killing “imams and other religious officials throughout the country.”
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Suicide bomber strikes voter registration office in Kabul
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a voter registration office in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. It is the latest in a string of attacks carried out by the group inside the Afghan capital. More than 50 people were killed and over 100 others wounded, according to initial casualty reports.
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Islamic State suicide bomber strikes near shrine in Afghan capital
The Islamic State’s Khorasan branch quickly claimed responsibility for an attack near a shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. The Sunni jihadists regularly target Shiite civilians in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
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Islamic State branch claims attack on Afghan military academy
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency quickly claimed responsibility for an assault near the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. It is the third major attack inside the Afghan capital in the past eight days. The previous two were carried out by the Taliban.
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Islamic State’s Khorasan ‘province’ claims responsibility for attack on cultural center in Kabul
Dozens of civilians were killed during a bombing at the Tabayan cultural center in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. The Islamic State’s Khorasan “province,” which regularly targets Shiite civilians and places of worship in Afghanistan, quickly claimed responsibility.
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Islamic State’s Khorasan ‘province’ assaults Iraqi embassy in Kabul
The Islamic State’s Wilayah Khorasan attacked the Iraqi embassy in Kabul earlier today. Nearly 16 years after the US invaded Afghanistan, civilian and official facilities in the country’s capital are regularly assaulted. Both the Taliban and Wilayah Khorasan have launched complex operations in Kabul on multiple occasions this year.
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US: ‘Major’ Islamic State media ‘hub’ destroyed in Nangarhar, Afghanistan
According to US Forces-Afghanistan, Jawed Khan, a “senior director of media production” for the Islamic State’s Wilayah Khorasan (ISIS-K), “was killed in an airstrike in Achin, Nangarhar Province on June 3.”
