Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?
Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity.
Afghanistan: Islamic State appeals to "educated extremists"
The Biden administration has vowed retaliation against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) for the Aug. 26 attack on the Kabul airport thath killed 13 US armed service members and over 90 Afghan civilians. More violence is likely. US Marine Corps Gen. and CENTCOM commander Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie said after the attack that "we expect those attacks to continue."
There are an estimated 10,000 foreign fighters in Afghanistan, over 2,000 IS-K members, and perhaps just 200 or so al-Qaeda members in South Asia, according to the Pentagon.
The US military knew that the threat from the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and IS-K was on the rise, and that the Afghan government would be hard-pressed to meet their challenge after the US withdrawal. The June 2021 quarterly report of the Pentagon Inspector General about the US combat mission in Afghanistan made the following observations, worth reviewing here, in light of recent events:
