ISIS fanatics are using Kabul bombings as ‘practice runs’ for BIGGER attacks in Europe and America, US spies warn
A WAVE of attacks by ISIS fanatics in Kabul are ‘practice runs’ for bigger attacks in Europe and America, a US intelligence official has said.
The terrorist group has carried out a number of bombings targeting mosques and public transport in Afghanistan in recent months.
The bombings have stoked fears that the group, which staged numerous attacks in the UK, US, and France after coming to international prominence in 2014, is planning new strikes against the West.
The official, who is based in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity: “This group is the most near-term threat to our homelands from Afghanistan.”
“The IS core mandate is: You will conduct external attacks” in the U.S. and Europe.
“That is their goal. It’s just a matter of time. It is very scary.”
He added that Afghanistan’s IS affiliate could be able to carry out a large-scale attack in the U.S. or Europe within the next year, and that IS fighters captured in Afghanistan have been found to be in contact with fellow militants in other countries.
Authorities have already made at least eight arrests in the United States linked to the IS affiliate in Afghanistan.
While attempting to build a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State established a presence in Afghanistan of just a few dozen fights, mostly Pakistani Taliban driven from bases across the border and Afghan Taliban attracted to IS’s more extreme ideology.
But it has now lost has lost almost all of the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, and is thought to be establishing a foothold in the mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan from which to recruit fighters and plot attacks.
Within Afghanistan, it has begun launching attacks on the population of Shiites, a minority Muslim sect whose beliefs it regards as heretical.
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The mountainous regions of northern Afghanistan provided cover for Osama bin Laden for almost a year after the September 11th attacks.
Bin Laden had been provided safe haven there by the Taliban, who were in government until being ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001.
After invading, US forces struggled to capture and hold high-altitude outposts before effectively surrendering the region to the Taliban.
Islamic State is now seen as an even bigger threat in Afghanistan than the Taliban, owing to its increasingly sophisticated military capabilities, and US officials are now contemplating partnering with the Taliban in order to combat the group.
Divisions between Islamic State and the Taliban exist over ideology and tactics, with the Taliban largely aiming their attacks at government targets and international forces.
Zalmay Khalizad, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the State Department, has held several rounds of talks with the Taliban in recent months in a bid to end America’s longest war.
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An agreement appears to be close that would see US forces withdraw in return for a pledge that the Taliban would keep the country from being used as a launch pad for global attacks.
“One of the hopes of a negotiated settlement is that it will bring the Taliban into the government and into the fight against IS,” the U.S. intelligence official said. “They know the mountains, they know the terrain. It’s their territory.”
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