The US pullout from Afghanistan led to a lot of concern about the ongoing presence of ISIS-K in the post-war country. This weekend, ISIS-K took credit for a pair of attacks in one of their major strongholds, Jalalabad.
ISIS-K has ideological differences with the Taliban, and the two sides were fighting even before the US pullout. Now that Afghanistan is Taliban-run, they’re the main target for ISIS forces.
This weekend saw no less than six IED attacks in Jalalabad, with 35 Taliban casualties, along with several civilian bystanders killed and wounded. The Taliban announced an investigation into the matter.
US operations against ISIS-K almost exclusively centered on Nangarhar Province, which is where Jalalabad is. This tended to involve copious airstrikes, ISIS fleeing the area, and then returning after the US declared them wiped out. As this weekend proves, they remain operationally capable.
In addition to attacks in Jalalabad, a car bombing was reported Sunday morning in Kabul. Two people were reported wounded. It’s not clear if this was ISIS-K as well, though it could well be, and the group seems to be looking to step up its presence across Afghanistan.
ISIS Attacks Taliban Targets in Afghanistan
Strikes targeted eastern city of Jalalabad
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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