With Ramadan approaching, Intelligence agencies have warned of widespread attacks by the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) in Afghanistan and India.
There has been a resurgence in the activities of the Islamic State in Afghanistan. It has found a new lease of life courtesy the rift between the Taliban and Pakistan. The ISI has been backing it heavily to fight the Taliban.
The ISK has launched a series of suicide bombings in which it has targeted high profile Taliban officials. These are attempts that are being made at the behest of Pakistan to destabilise the Taliban. It is also a way of trying to undermine the authority of the Taliban which has been ruling Afghanistan since the US forces pulled out of the country.
Precision attacks
On February 11, a suicide bomber of the Islamic State Abul Ansari carried out an attack outside the branch of the Kabul Bank at Kunduz. The attack took place at a time when the Taliban fighters had visited the bank to collect their salaries. 25 people including Taliban fighters and civilians were killed in the attack while over 50 were injured.
On February 13 a suicide bomber Abu Yusuf tried to attack the Taliban’s Ministry of Urban Development and Housing in Kabul. This had led to a gun fight, although the Taliban claimed that they had managed to neutralise the suicide bomber. Arsala Kharoti, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister for Finance and Administration was seriously injured in the attack.
Both these attacks were carried out by a great deal of precision by the Islamic State Khorasan. More importantly the targeting of the bank and a ministry only show that the ISK is capable of not just carrying out precision attacks, but also striking at high profile locations. Both the attacks also expose the weakness of the Taliban in certain situation where it has lost to the ISK.
The other intention is to portray to the people of Afghanistan that the Taliban is incapable of safeguarding the country’s assets.
Attacks ahead of Ramadan
The ISK may not be capable of taking on the Taliban on the ground in a gun battle. While realising this it changed its strategy in 2022 when it decided to undertake suicide attacks.
In 2022 and 2023, the ISK undertook a series of suicide attacks which left scores of people dead. This had started undermining the kind of control that the Taliban had.
The idea is to announce to the world that the ISK is a force to reckon with. It does not want to be taken lightly and will continue to look to control the region.
Intelligence agencies say that ahead of Ramazan later this month, the ISK could carry out significant attacks. This has been the pattern of the terror group ahead of Ramadan and the experts say that this is a time when they are re-energised.
Hence going forward, the ISK will be devising a strategy that includes targeting of high profile buildings, high ranking Taliban officials, indulge in psychological warfare and disrupt operations in Afghanistan.
The implications for Bharat
The Indian government has been in talks with the Taliban, much to the disliking of both Pakistan and the ISK. New Delhi has said that the talk channels will remain open and India is ready to help Afghanistan rebuild.
However, if the ISK does enhance operations and goes on a targeting spree in Afghanistan, it would have an impact to several neighbouring countries. India will b affected and the security will have to be heightened.
The ISK has already signalled that India remains a key focus and it would include parts of the country to form its Caliphate.
Recently the United Nations said that the ISK poses one of the greatest dangers for India. It had said that India features very high on the list of the ISK and hence the security needs to be up to the mark.
However, in the same report, the UN had also said that multiple attempts to target India have been foiled. The Indian government follows a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. It has managed to bring Jammu and Kashmir under control lately. Further terror groups such as the Indian Mujahideen have been wiped out. Another dangerous terrorist group the Popular Front of India was banned.
