Nagpur: Explosions outside the Kabul airport has left more than 60 dead including 13 US troops on Thursday.
The ISIS-K which is also known as the Islamic State Khorasan province has claimed responsibility for the deadly explosion.
According to reports, ISIS-K is a regional affiliate of ISIS which is active in Pakistan and Afghanistan and had planned the attack on American personnel since a long time.
What is ISIS-K?
The word derives from an old term for the region lying in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan and appeared for the first time in late 2014 in eastern Afghanistan. The group earned their reputation for extreme brutality.
The group recruits both Afghan and Pakistan jihadists, especially defecting members of Afghan Taliban who don’t see their organization ‘extreme enough.’
IS-K has been blamed for some horrendous activities in recent years such as targeting girls’ schools, maternity hospitals where they have reportedly shot dead pregnant women, doctors, and nurses.
Are they linked to the Taliban?
The group is not directly linked with the Taliban but is linked through the Haqqani network. As per a report, there are strong links between the group and the Haqqani network which is said to be in close contact with the Taliban.
The Taliban on August 15 marched into Kabul and took full control of Afghanistan almost 20 years after they were removed by the US military.
The terrorist group took over the presidential palace and claimed that it is planning to declare Afghanistan to the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country along with other close leaders and said that he had fled the country to ‘prevent a flood of bloodshed.’ He further claimed that Kabul would be destroyed if he had decided to stay behind.
This development comes after US President Joe Biden in February said that the US will be withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan after 20 long years.
The US army had invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
According to reports, the Taliban’s Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is likely to be declared as Afghanistan’s new president.
