JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Basheer was a young Taliban fighter barely out ofhis teens when the Islamic State group took over his village in easternAfghanistan, nearly eight years ago. The militants rounded up villagersidentified as Taliban and killed them, often beheading them, forcing theirfamilies to watch.
Basheer escaped and lived in hiding during the following years when IScontrolled several districts in Nangarhar province. Over time, he rose inthe Taliban ranks.
Now known as Engineer Basheer, he is the Taliban intelligence chief ineastern Afghanistan, with a leading role in the campaign to crush IS. Hehasn’t forgotten the atrocities he saw in his home district of Kot.
“I can’t explain their cruelty in words, whatever comes into your mind,they have done more than that,” he told The Associated Press in a recentinterview at his headquarters in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar.
Since coming to power in Afghanistan eight months ago, the Taliban havetouted their success in repressing the Islamic State group, but themilitants have expanded into neighboring Pakistan, stepping up attacksthere. Analysts say IS has morphed into a borderless terrorist group, oneof the deadliest in a region that has spawned many violent, radicalorganizations.
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In northwest Pakistan, the impact is brutally clear. The remains of an ISsuicide bomber are still visible on the once ornate walls of a mosque,weeks after he blew himself up, killing more than 60 worshippers as theyprayed. IS identified the bomber as an Afghan from Kabul.[image: Afghanistan Pakistan IS Threat]
People light candles next to the portraits of the victims of a March 4suicide bombing in Kusha Kisaldar Shiite Mosque, to pay tribute to themduring a ceremony March 10, in Peshawar, Pakistan. In northwest Pakistan,the remains of an IS suicide bomber are still visible on the once ornatewalls of the mosque, where last month more than 63 worshippers died as theyknelt in prayer.Muhammad Sajjad, Associated Press
The March 4 bombing at the Kusha Kisaldar Shiite mosque in the old city ofPeshawar stunned Pakistanis, deepening their fear of the resurgence ofterror attacks in their country, after a steady decline in the past decade.
The rise in attacks began last year and is accelerating, said Amir Rana,executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, anindependent think tank that monitors militant activity in Pakistan.
By late March this year, Pakistan had seen 52 attacks by militants,compared to 35 in the same period last year, according to the institute’sdata. The attacks have also gotten deadlier. So far this year in Pakistan,155 people have been killed in such attacks, compared to 68 last year.
The worst have been claimed by a ruthless Islamic State affiliate, knownIslamic State in Khorasan Province or IS-K.
Meanwhile, IS attacks appear to have declined in Afghanistan.
IS-K first emerged in 2014 in eastern Afghanistan. By 2019, it heldsignificant territory in Nangarhar province and had pushed into neighboringKunar province. The U.S. military waged a massive air campaign against it,including targeting a suspected IS hideout with America’s largestconventional bomb, known as the “mother of all bombs.”
But IS survived, and it presented the greatest security challenge to theTaliban when they seized power in Afghanistan last August.
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IS-K is a longtime enemy of the Taliban. The Taliban espouse a harshinterpretation of Islamic law and often used suicide attacks in theirnearly 20-year insurgency against the United States and its Afghan allies.But they often blend tribal traditions with religious edicts and havereached out to Shiites. IS, meanwhile, opposes any group that does notaccept its more radical, deeply anti-Shiite ideology and is notorious foratrocities meant to spread fear. IS, unlike the Taliban, see their battleas one to establish a unified Muslim world under a caliphate.
The Taliban responded with their characteristic heavy hand, sweepingthrough suspected IS strongholds. In October and November, residentsreported bodies hanging from trees. They were told they were IS militants.
Basheer says the Taliban have succeeded in reining in the group.
Some militant watchers also say the Taliban’s deep reach inside Afghanvillages and links to mosques and madrassas in even the smallest hamletshave reduced the space for IS to operate.
Since the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’sability to gather intelligence on IS has been drastically degraded,according to senior U.S. military officials.
The region is also increasingly inhospitable to America. Political turmoilhas fueled anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the Taliban areimposing a rule that harks to their harsh government of the late 1990s.China is a major player in the region, quickly outstripping U.S. influence.
IS-K is not the only extremist group in the region. Others includeLashkar-e-Taiba, which is largely India-focused, China’s Uyghur rebels ofthe East Turkestan group and Central Asia’s rebel Islamic Movement ofUzbekistan.
Dr. Amira Jadoon, assistant professor at the Combating Terrorism Center atthe U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said IS-K is weaker than it was in2019. But it has morphed from an insurgency to a typical terrorist group, asubtle but important difference, she said.
“It’s now a stronger terrorist group than it was in 2019, but perhaps aweaker ‘insurgency’ compared to its earlier peak years, since it lacks thesame level of territorial control and is not controlling any civilianpopulations,” Jadoon said.
A February U.N. report estimated the number of IS-K fighters at around4,000 and said it “enjoys more freedom than at any time in recent history.”
Not everyone agrees. Bill Roggio, whose Long War Journal tracks militantmovements, said the Taliban sweep to power prompted some former members ofthe group who had defected to IS-K to return to the Taliban fold.
“The Taliban received a major boost after its victory in Afghanistan,” saidRoggio, who is also a senior fellow at the conservative Foundation for theDefense of Democracies.
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