The situation in Afghanistan is getting critical by the day. In the recent Kabul airport blast, the death toll has risen to 103 and after the Taliban, ISIS-K has emerged as the new threat. It’s a threat to any kind of normalcy, stability and peace in the already ravaged war-torn Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, after the bomb blasts, US President Biden claimed that the US will not be “intimidated” and those responsible “will not be spared”.
Details
In the past few weeks, the Taliban made rapid gains in Afghanistan, a move, which many believe was triggered by the withdrawal of US troops. Since then, images and footages of absolute chaos in Afghanistan have surfaced where desperate Afghani citizens are trying to flee away and avoid what the future may hold for them in the Taliban ruled Afghanistan.
The Facts of the Matter
On Thursday 26, a new flashpoint in the Afghanistan crisis shook the world when the Kabul airport was rocked by multiple bomb explosions, leading to the death of at least 103 people and injuries to as many as 143 people. The event is all the more intense, as it became the cause of death of 13 US soldiers (12 Marines and 1 medic) and 18 other US service members.
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Pentagon’s Statement
Statement on this morning's attack at #HKIA: pic.twitter.com/Qb1DIAJQJU
— John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) August 26, 2021
Right after the first explosion, the Pentagon released a statement which read, “We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. We will continue to update.”
ISIS-K Takes Responsibility
Further, hours after the multiple blasts rocked the Kabul airport, ISIS – K(Khorasan), took responsibility of the attack. Reportedly, a suicide attacker from ISIS-K, was somehow able to breach the security and reach a group of people which included translators that helped American troops. The bomber made his way to ‘Baran Camp’, and went on to detonate the explosive outfit he wore.
Taliban ‘Condemns’ Attack, Claims to Have Alerted US
Meanwhile, the Islamic militant organization Taliban – which has primarily been the cause of the mayhem in Afghanistan – itself ‘condemned’ the blasts. Further, it said that it had given its intelligence inputs to the US of a possible attack by the ISIS-K group.
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“Will Hunt You Down, Make You Pay”: President Joe Biden
After the attacks, US President Joe Biden made a hard-worded speech and claimed that the USA “will not forgive” and “will not forget”. In his address he said that the USA will not be intimidated and directly gave a foreshadowing to ISIS-K by saying, “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
He further added that the mission to evacuate as many Americans out of Afghanistan will continue and said, “We will not be deterred by terrorists, we will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuations.”
Despite extraordinary dangers and risks, we were able to evacuate more than 100,000 people in just a matter of days. We can — and we must — complete our mission.
We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 27, 2021
What is ISIS-K?
Named after ‘Khorasan’, a region that shares lies close to Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, ISIS-K is another chapter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Although, it was formed less than 10 years ago (2014), it has slowly been looked as one of the most terrifying and brutal militant organizations in the world.
With militants that come from both the Afghanistan and Pakistani jihadists, the ISIS-K is known for recruiting defecting Afghani Jihadists. They recruit those militants that had defected from the Afghanistan Taliban as they considered it not hardlined and brutal enough.
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So, ISIS-K and Taliban are Both Same?
Yes, and no. Although both the sides are Islamic militants – they are however each other’s rivals. While Taliban is solely focused on Afghanistan, ISIS-K’s focus is broader and it even sees Western forces as a target. Meanwhile the ISIS-K has been critical of Taliban for going for peace settlements instead of favouring the Jihad.
