In Afghanistan, the fight against EI-K, the Islamic State-Khorasan group, the regional branch of the terrorist group, has been one of the security priorities of the Taliban regime since it took power 18 months ago. The Taliban regularly carry out raids in the capital against the cells present. On the evening of Sunday February 26, a senior EI-K official was killed in one of these operations in Kabul.
With our correspondent in Islamabad, Sonia Ghezali
The senior manager of the group Islamic State-Khorasan killed is Qari Fateh. He was head of intelligence and operations for ISIS, ISIS’s branch in Afghanistan. He is said to be the mastermind of several recent attacks in Afghanistan against, among other things, diplomatic missions and mosques.
Last December, the Pakistani embassy and a hotel popular with Chinese businessmen were targeted by Islamic State fighters in the heart of Kabul. Earlier this year, a suicide bombing near the Foreign Ministry claimed the lives of at least 10 people in the Afghan capital.
A constant struggle
IS in Afghanistan is the biggest security challenge for the Taliban regime, which has been carrying out regular raids against cells present in Kabul for several months.
ISIS infiltrated Afghanistan in 2015, targeting religious minorities, state officials and foreigners in its attacks. Under the former republic of Afghanistan, the Taliban and the EI-K were already clashing for the control of territories.
The two groups are both radical Sunnis, but the Taliban do not have the ambition to export their emirate internationally, unlike EI-K which is an offshoot of the Islamic State group present in Iraq.