By Sahibzada Moheeb Rehman Afridi
Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) is sub-group of ISIS which has been active in Khorasan since 2015.
Islamic State of Khorasan Province is a militant group of ISIS founded by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on January 26, 2015. The ideology was properly announced by Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani.
Mawlawi Zia ul-Haq, also known as Abu Omar al-Khorasani, led the Islamic State’s Khorasan province until April 2019. He was then “dismissed and replaced by Mawlawi Abdullah, also known as Mawlawi Aslam Farooqi,” who was previously in charge of operations in the Khyber Agency.
It is claimed that there are three types of funding sources of ISKP which include taxation, local contribution, and funds from external donors. Later on, as ISKP grew stronger, it imposed taxes on farming, smuggling, and other economic activities.
Zakat and Ushr were also collected on pretext of shariah teachings initially. They justified the ban on poppy on an ideological basis and accused Taliban to be disrespecting Shariah by smuggling.
Bulk of ISKP funding is money transferred by private and allegedly state donors abroad. Sources in NDS, main intelligence agency claims it has traced money coming to ISKP from Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, as well as from locally raised sources.
There have been a number of sources for funding, such as, extracting mines. They have links with big smugglers, they collect taxes and there are many donors from Arabic countries who are helping ISKP.
Mawlawi Aslam Farooqi is the current Ammer of ISKP. The main agenda of the Islamic State of Khorasan province is to implement caliphate in the region of Afghanistan and spread their influence at a global level. Geographically ISKP covers the area of Central Asia and Northeastern Iran.
Initially ISKP was confined to Nangarhar but later on, it was expanded to Kunar, Ger, and many other regions. According to Gen Nicholson of NATO, 75 percent of TTP’s former commanders, members, and mullahs, joined ISKP because they paid a huge salary to them.
The U.S. military estimated their strength at 2,000 fighters. Some Afghan officials estimated the number is higher and could get further boost. IS militants, who battle government forces and the Taliban, and have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in urban centers, will not be part of the proposed deal between the United States and the Taliban.
The ISKP targets Shia Hazara, mosques, and educational institutions. So far 60 deadliest attacks have been claimed by ISKP, killing dozens of people.
The group has created chaos among other Taliban groups and the government of Afghanistan with its different ideology.
ISKP was involved in terrorist attacks, target killings and other violent activities both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISKP started its activities just after four years of its birth. It announced its expansion to Khorasan region.
ISKP had been responsible for nearly a hundred attacks on civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan and several clashes with U.S forces since January 2017. The ISKP attacked Telegram channels. It targeted an Afghan government vehicle on 25 July, 2019.
The ISKP recently attacked a wedding hall in Kabul on 18 August, 2019. ISKP in suicide bombing killed at least 63 and wounded 182 persons. The attack came when the Taliban appeared to be nearing a deal with the U.S. to end nearly 18 years of war. Now, Washington hopes the Taliban can help rein in IS fighters, with some worry that Taliban fighters, disenchanted by a peace deal, could join ISKP.
Read: Millions of dollars wasted by US in Afghan reconstruction contracts’ embezzlement
ISKP’s strategic use of social media demonstrates the resourcefulness of the terrorist-cum-insurgent organization which mobilized an estimated 40,000 foreign nationals from 110 countries to join the group. Increasing internet access in both Africa and the Middle East means that ISIS also has a new pool of potential supporters through social media.
They work in institutions to encourage students to join ISKP. Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), has arrested a Kabul University professor on charges of recruiting students for the so-called Islamic State terrorist group or ISIS to stage deadly assaults.
In a nutshell, the ISKP is a militant group and its purported aim is to revive the caliphate system and Islamic law at regional and international level.
The writer is an Under-graduate student of Peace and Conflict Studies at National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad. He can be reached at moheebafridi00@gmail.com
