He should not be left free to move until his danger escalates

The ISIS threat returns from the gates of Afghanistan

• An archive photo of elements affiliated with the Afghan resistance movement against the "Taliban" movement and the West together and vowed to fight both sides.

  AFP

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While the Taliban movement was working to extend its control over Kabul, the Afghan capital was subjected to a bloody attack that was claimed by the local branch of the Islamic State, in a blow that once again highlights the strength of this extremist group and raises fears in the West.

About 100 civilians and 13 US soldiers were killed in the bombing near Kabul airport on August 26, the deadliest attack against US forces since 2011 in Afghanistan, and the largest against the US military carried out by ISIS in Afghanistan.

The attack occurred days before the trial begins in Paris on Wednesday of the accused in the November 13, 2015 attacks that killed 130 people, which were claimed by ISIS when it was at the height of its power, and as the United States prepares to commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Although al-Qaeda, the opponent of the Islamic State group, claimed the largest attack in modern history against the United States, it served as an inspiration to extremists of all stripes.

"Western intelligence agencies should really be on the alert (...) Islamic militant groups have called for more attacks on the West," said Catherine Zimmerman, an analyst at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute.

security gap

But the main source of danger has changed, especially since the collapse of ISIS under the strikes of the international coalition.

According to analysts interviewed by Agence France-Presse, ISIS may not be able at the current stage to launch an attack in the West, similar to the complex attack in 2015 in Paris.

Despite this, its local branches in Nigeria, Mali and Yemen remain active, while the organization in Iraq, the most active in the world, claimed on Sunday the killing of 13 federal police officers.

ISIS, which is active on social networks, has experience in how to mobilize fighters, especially thanks to its coherent rhetoric.

And the security services realize that they cannot guarantee that elements of the organization will not carry out an individual attack, such as Friday's attack in New Zealand.

In Kabul, the Islamic State attack was more symbolic because it took place despite US President Joe Biden's warning of the possibility of a strike.

And Jean-Pierre Filiu, a researcher at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, points out that "Washington's inability to prevent such a publicly announced attack, allows ISIS Khorasan Province to exaggerate its ability to carry out bloody strikes."

He believed that "the direct confrontation between the US forces and the Taliban created a security gap that could be exploited by the Islamic attackers."

Terror growth

ISIS sympathizers quickly took advantage of the attack in the Afghan capital.

The extremist group "Demolition of Fences" said "Kabul is ours", putting the Americans and "apostates of the Taliban" in the same category.

ISIS-K is currently considered "the fourth most active organization in the world since the beginning of the year," as the expert on the group's affairs, known on Twitter as "Mr. Q", points out.

He told AFP that the attack on Kabul "returns the organization (ISIS-Khorasan Province) to the center of political and media attention."

In eastern Syria, cells are still active and carry out operations from time to time. “Between 2019 and 2020, the organization began training its members to carry out this type of attack outside Iraq and Syria, and perhaps outside the Middle East,” according to the American diplomat and former special envoy of the international coalition against the organization, James Jeffrey. .

With this in mind, Western countries are keeping their eyes open on the possibility of attacks.

At the end of August, French President Emmanuel Macron called from Iraq not to falter, because the organization "still poses a threat."

Biden also promised ISIS in Afghanistan more response, saying, "To ISIS - Khorasan Province: We are not done with you yet."

Zimmerman warned that if the organization is left unchecked, "it is not difficult (...) for the terrorist threat in Afghanistan to grow and extend to the region and even to the West."

• In Kabul, the ISIS attack was more symbolic, because it took place despite US President Joe Biden's warning of the possibility of a strike.

• The Kabul attack took place days before the start of the trial of the accused in the November 13, 2015 attacks, which killed 130 people in Paris, claimed by ISIS, and as America prepares to commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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