ISIS is Far from Defeated. Here’s What You Need to Know About its Affiliate in Afghanistan.
ISIS is Far from Defeated. Here’s What You Need to Know About its Affiliate in Afghanistan. By Claire Parker – Washington Post
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 63 and wounded nearly 200 people at a wedding in Kabul over the weekend, signaling the group’s enduring reach and underscoring one of the challenges to a U.S. and Taliban peace negotiation.
The militant group lost its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria earlier this year. But Saturday’s bombing showed that the Islamic State remains a potent force beyond the borders it once claimed and fixed a glare on one of its lesser known but growing affiliates: the Islamic State in Khorasan, as the Afghanistan branch is known.
The bombing came as the U.S. and the Taliban work to finalize a peace deal that would end the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The Trump administration’s top negotiator presented a draft agreement to President Trump Friday that outlines a plan to withdraw thousands of American troops from the country — a move some fear would allow the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, to gain an even bigger footprint…
