Kabul -

The name of Nangarhar Province (eastern Afghanistan) has returned to being linked to the movements of the "Islamic State" organization, where hundreds of its members who were detained, after the Taliban evacuated prisons when they took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, in mid-August.

The state near Kabul, whose geography contributed to repelling US attacks, has long been a home and shelter for Al-Qaeda after the attacks of September 11, 2001. And ISIS resorted to it and announced its presence in 2015.


Its location and history

Nangarhar Province is located on the main road to Pakistan and India, in eastern Afghanistan.

Due to its location, Jalalabad (the capital of the state) has always had regional commercial, military and political importance.

Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan, and is connected to the provinces of Logar, Laghman, Konar and the capital, Kabul, in addition to a border that extends for a distance of 2,600 kilometers with Pakistan.

It is divided into 22 districts, with a population of more than two million and 700 thousand people.

It is the third most populous state in Afghanistan.

Since the era of the late King Muhammad Zahir Shah, Nangarhar has had a vital role in the conduct of administrative work, as two of its sons took over the prime ministership, namely Sharifi Abdul-Zahir and Musa Shafiq, in addition to senior statesmen such as Abdul Rahman Bajwak - Afghanistan's permanent representative to the United Nations - and Samad Hamed - Deputy Prime Minister during the reign of the King - who stood against the Soviet occupation.

After the fall of the government of Muhammad Najibullah in 1992, the leaders of the province, including one of the leaders of the Mujahideen against the Soviets, Sheikh Muhammad Yunus Khalis, as well as the Syed Ahmad Gilani group in Nangarhar, were not involved in the civil wars that continued until the Taliban seized the capital Kabul in 1996, but rather received the state Displaced from other areas due to wars and security tension.

Taghab camp - on the highway between the city of Jalalabad and the Torkham crossing with Pakistan - still bears witness to that era in Afghanistan.

Nangarhar is distinguished - according to the political writer Hikmat Jalil - that most of its children are from the educated class.

Compared to the rest of the regions, the illiteracy rate is very low, due to the presence of Nangarhar University, which was established during the reign of the King, and is considered the second after Kabul University.

According to official sources, there are 936 public schools and 6 private universities in the state.

Its proximity to Pakistan also contributed to the greater spread of education among its children.

An image showing al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (right) and its founder Osama bin Laden, where Nangarhar province is referred to as the cradle of this organization (Reuters)

cradle of the base

The events in Nangarhar can be divided into two phases. The first was before the attacks of September 11, 2001. At this stage, Nangarhar witnessed the emergence of Al-Qaeda in the mountains of Tora Bora.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had returned to Nangarhar in 1996 from Sudan, and from there he went to Kabul and Kandahar to meet with the leader and founder of the Taliban movement, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

After the September 11 attacks, bin Laden returned again to the Tora Bora mountains, which witnessed fierce battles and clashes between US forces and al-Qaeda militants, before leaving for Pakistan.

The most important American rules

After the arrival of American forces in Afghanistan, the United States played a pivotal role in the east of the country, establishing an important military base at the state airport and establishing a border police training center in the Tora Bora mountains.

A former security source stated - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the base of the US forces in the city of Jalalabad, was one of its 3 most important military bases in Afghanistan.

From them, air raids were launched on the tribal areas in Pakistani territory, and the border strip with Pakistan was monitored.

According to the source, the US base was a major center for the fight against "terrorism" in 4 eastern states.

Islamic State in Nangarhar

In mid-2015, ISIS announced its presence in Nangarhar Province.

After the organization targeted the military hospital in the capital, Kabul, former US President Donald Trump ordered the targeting of his stronghold in the Shinwari district in Nangarhar state.

On April 14, 2017, the US forces dropped the "mother of all bombs" weighing 9,800 kilograms of explosives, into a network of tunnels used by the organization in Nangarhar province.

The bomb was dropped from an MC-130 aircraft on an ISIS tunnel network in the Achin district of Nangarhar province (Reuters-Archive)

Why did the state organization appear in Nangarhar?

The Islamic State appeared at the beginning of 2015 in Farah province in western Afghanistan, but it was eliminated by US forces.

He was unable to build relationships with his surroundings, as the southern and western provinces are considered a popular incubator for the Taliban movement.

The organization decided to return to the province of Nangarhar in the east of the country, for several reasons summarized by a security official - Al Jazeera Net - saying that the organization chose the state because of its proximity to the capital, Kabul, and that this region is not a popular incubator for the Taliban movement like the southern states.

He adds - to the reasons for this return - that the tribal element in Nangarhar is weak and fragile compared to the states of Paktia and Khost, where the tribes do not allow the presence of a foreign element easily.

The source added that ISIS recruited members of the Orakzai tribe in the tribal areas under the control of the Pakistani government, whose sons live near Nangarhar, and it was easy for its fighters and recruits to move to Afghan territory.

The Tora Bora mountain range was also an important geographical factor for ISIS fighters, and provided them with natural cover against air raids.

According to the former security official, ISIS is copying al-Qaeda's experience in taking advantage of the mountains.


After the Taliban took control

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, observers believe that the current security situation in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar, is very similar to 2017, when the city witnessed 33 bombings in April.

As a result, the previous Afghan government had to dismiss the governor, Kilab Munkal, for his failure to control the security situation.

There is another reason for the return of the Islamic State so quickly to the Afghan scene in a way that confuses the cards, at least in Nangarhar Province.

The writer Hikmat Jalil says: "After the Taliban took control of the Afghan provinces, all detainees were released from prisons, including ISIS detainees."

Jalil believes that what happened on the day of the fall of Kabul was a strategic mistake, as the Taliban released about 500 ISIS detainees, most of whom sought refuge in Nangarhar Province, the organization's main stronghold;

It will be difficult for the movement to arrest them again.