Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province

Not to be confused with Khorasan Province or Khorasan group.
Khorasan Province
Wilayah Khorasan
Participant in the War on Terror, the War in North-West Pakistan and the War in Afghanistan

The Black Standard of ISIL.
Active 26 January 2015[1]–present
Ideology Salafist Islamism
Salafist Jihadism
Leaders Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL)
Hafiz Saeed Khan
Abdul Rauf Aliza †[2]
Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost[3]
Area of operations Afghanistan, Pakistan, India
Strength

2,500 (Sep 2015)[4]

4,000 (Jan 2016)[5]
Part of  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Merger of Defectors from Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and other factions who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State
Opponents

State Opponents

Non-State Opponents

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (IS-K,[9] Wilayah Khorasan) is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ISIL announced the group's formation in January 2015 and appointed Hafiz Saeed Khan as its leader.[10][11]

Background

The logo of Wilayat Khorasan

Around September 2014, ISIL sent representatives to Pakistan to meet with local militants, including some Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) factions, following several months of discussions.[12] At the same time, leaflets, flags and propaganda materials in support of ISIL began being distributed in parts of Pakistan, including a pamphlet written in Pashto and Dari that called on all Muslims to swear allegiance to al-Baghdadi. The leaflets were believed to have been produced and distributed from across the border in Afghanistan.[13] In October 2014, former Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Khadim visited Iraq, later returning to Afghanistan where he recruited followers in Helmand and Farah provinces.[14] In the same month, 6 TTP commanders in Pakistan; Hafiz Khan Saeed, official spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, and the TTP commanders of Kurram and Khyber tribal regions and Peshawar and Hangu Districts, publicly defected from the TTP and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[15][16]

On 10 January 2015, these six individuals appeared in a video where they again pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi and nominated Hafiz Saeed Khan as the leader of their group. They were joined by other mid-level militant commanders, including representatives from Afghanistan’s Logar and Kunar Province and Pakistan's Lakki Marwat. Shahidullah Shahid claimed that other Jihadists from both countries supported the pledge of allegiance but had been unable to attend the meeting in person.[16][17]

History

On 26 January 2015, ISIL's official spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani released an audio statement in which he accepted the earlier pledge of allegiance and announced the expansion of ISIL's caliphate with the creation of Wilayat Khorasan (Khurasan Province), a historical region incorporating parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hafiz Khan Saeed was appointed as its local leader, or Wāli (Governor).[18][19] Abdul Rauf was named as Khan's deputy, however he was killed by a US drone strike in Afghanistan several weeks later.[20]

ISIL began actively recruiting defectors from the Taliban, particularly among those who were disgruntled with their leaders or lack of battlefield success. This prompted senior Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour to write a letter addressed to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, asking for the recruitment in Afghanistan to stop and arguing that the war in Afghanistan should be under the Taliban leadership.[21] Nevertheless, fighting between the two groups broke out in Nangarhar Province, and by June 2015 ISIL had been able to seize territory in Afghanistan for the first time.[22] After successfully driving the Taliban out of several districts of Nangarhar after months of clashes, the group started carrying out their first attacks against Afghan forces in the province.[23] Khorasan Province also developed a presence in other provinces, including Helmand and Farah.[24] In late 2015, ISIL began broadcasting Pashto language radio in Nangarhar Province,[25] later adding content in Dari.[26]

The group was boosted in August 2015 when the Afghanistan-based militant group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), pledged allegiance to ISIL and declared they were now members of Wilayah Khorasan.[27] Clashes broke out between the IMU and the Taliban in Zabul province following this pledge. The Taliban launched an offensive against the Uzbeks, causing heavy casualties and eliminating its presence in the province by the end of the year.[28][29] The Taliban also succeeded in dislodging ISIL from Farah province over the same period.[7]

The group suffered further reversals in 2016, losing control of much of its territory in Nangarhar province. It was driven out of Achin and Shinwar Districts following a military operation by Afghan Security Forces,[30] while clashes with the Taliban led to them being driven out of Batikot and Chaparhar districts.[7] Following the loosening of targeting restrictions by US Forces in Afghanistan earlier in the year, the US Air Force began conducting scores of air strikes against ISIL targets.[31] In April 2016 the Taliban reported that a number of senior and mid-level leaders of Wilayah Khorasan in Nangarhar Province had defected from ISIL and pledged allegiance to Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour. The defectors included members of the group's central council, judicial council, and prisoners council, as well as several field commanders and their fighters.[32]

Analysis

ISIL fighters in Afghanistan, with their commander, Abu Rashid in the middle, during a documentary by Al Jazeera, inside their territory.

According to a UN report, up to 70 ISIL fighters arrived from Iraq and Syria to form the core of the group in Afghanistan.[14] Alongside foreign fighters from Pakistan and Uzbekistan, most of the group's membership growth has come from recruiting Afghan defectors from the Taliban.[22] US General Sean Swindell told the BBC that members of Khorasan Province are in contact with ISIL's central leadership in Syria, although the exact relationship between the two is unclear.[33]

While the group has managed to establish a foothold in Afghanistan, it has had less success in Pakistan, largely carrying out isolated, small scale attacks.[34]

Designation as a terrorist organization

Country Date References
 United States 29 September 2015 [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "IS announces expansion into AfPak, parts of India". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Afghanistan drone strike 'kills IS commander Abdul Rauf'". 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "Guantanamo's Afghans Return to Different Lives". 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Islamic State group loyalists eye a presence in Afghanistan". Associated Press. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2016/01/front-line-afghanistan-battle-isil-160125120905827.html
  6. ↑ "ISIS reportedly moves into Afghanistan, is even fighting Taliban". 12 January 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Taliban Captures IS Bases in Afghanistan". Voice of America. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Pakistan Taliban reject Islamic State leader's claim to be 'caliph'". Reuters. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Designations of Foreign Terrorist Fighters". State.gov. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  10. ↑ "Islamic State moves in on al-Qaeda turf". BBC News. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "IS Loyalists Kill 3 Police in First Attack on Afghan Forces". The New York Times. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Seth G. Jones - ISIS' South Asia Strategy". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Islamic State Is Spreading Into Pakistan". The New Republic. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Islamic State gaining ground in Afghanistan: UN". AFP. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Pakistani Taliban leaders pledge allegiance to Islamic State". Washington Post. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Situating the emergence of the Islamic State of Khorasan". CTC Sentinel. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Pakistani Taliban splinter group again pledges allegiance to Islamic State". Long War Journal. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "‘Wilayat Khurasan’: Islamic State Consolidates Position in AfPak Region". Jamestown Foundation. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "IS announces expansion into AfPak, parts of India". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Afghanistan drone strike 'kills IS commander Abdul Rauf'". BBC News. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Taliban urge Islamic State to stop 'interference' in Afghanistan". Reuters. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Exclusive: In turf war with Afghan Taliban, Islamic State loyalists gain ground". Reuters. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "IS Loyalists Kill 3 Police in First Attack on Afghan Forces". Associated Press. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Afghan official: IS group present in at least 3 provinces". Associated Press. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "A new Islamic State radio station spreads panic in eastern Afghanistan". Washington Post. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  26. ↑ "IS Radio Expands Reach in Afghanistan". Voice of America. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "IMU Declares It Is Now Part Of The Islamic State". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  28. ↑ "Wilayat Khorasan Stumbles in Afghanistan". Jamestown Foundation. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  29. ↑ "The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan Comes Unraveled". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  30. ↑ https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2016/03/06/Afghan-president-ISIS-being-wiped-out-in-Afghanistan.html
  31. ↑ "Air strikes hit Islamic State in Afghanistan under new rules: U.S.". Reuters. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  32. ↑ Roggio, Bill (11 April 2016). "Senior Islamic State Khorasan leaders defect to Taliban". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  33. ↑ "Afghanistan fighters 'linked to Islamic State in Syria'". BBC News. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  34. ↑ "Islamic State is having a hard time taking root in Pakistan". The Washington Post. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.

External links

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