According to UN estimates, the IS-K has between 500 and a few thousand fighters in northern and eastern Afghanistan, including cells under the noses of the Taliban in the capital Kabul.
Since 2020, the group has been reputed to be led by a certain “Shahab al-Mujahir”, whose nom de guerre suggests that he arrived in the region from the Arab world, but his origins remain unclear.
According to various rumors, he was allegedly a commander of Al Qaeda or a former member of the Haqqani network, now one of the most powerful and feared factions of the Afghan Taliban.
Until 2020, eclipsed by the Taliban and targeted by a campaign of phone number library merican airstrikes and drones, the IS-K faction was losing its influence.
But the arrival of the mysterious new leader seems to have marked a turning point in his fortune.
According to researcher Abdul Sayed of online extremism tracker ExTrac, Shahad has placed “a renewed emphasis on urban warfare and symbolic violence.”
“Although the Taliban are its main target, the IS-K has chosen easy targets like religious places, educational establishments and public places like hospitals etc. to spread fears of its terrorism,” he said. said Sayed.
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