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The satanic Islamic State (IS) attack in the old city of Kabul came not too long after a US Institute of Peace (USIP)s forecast in January 2020. I had quoted this in my column dated March 13 that a precipitate US withdrawal without a broad-based peace deal would help Pakistans proxy terrorist groups to mount attacks on Indian interests in Afghanistan. However, this time, the attack did not come from Pakistans proxies in Afghanistan, but independently.

On Wednesday (March 25), a Gurdwara and Dharmshala in the Shor Bazar area, populated by Hindu and Sikh minorities, were attacked by terrorists. They lobbed grenades and sprayed bullets on 150 worshippers who were inside. 25 devotees were killed and 80, who were trapped inside, were rescued by Afghan Special forces and International troops. Official sources claimed that all terrorists were killed.

Islamic State promptly claimed the responsibility through Amaq News often the first point of publication for any claim of responsibility by the group. It said that the attack was led by an Indian national named Abu Khalid al-Hindi for avenging the crackdown on Muslims in Kashmir. Since 2015, Abu Khalid al-Hindi was active on Twitter, criticizing US, Russia and the criminal Gulf Princes.

However, his name was not seen among the new set of regional leaders of Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK), compiled by the Long War Journal (June 30, 2019), which mentioned Abu Talha al-Hindi as in-charge of India and Abu Abdallah al-Kashmiri as the head of Kashmir unit.

A study of terrorism history reveals that terrorist groups operating in terror ravaged areas like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan indulge in destructive and escalating competition to wrest tactical advantage. They may not have specific grievances locally, but want to show their might. This is seen more in failed states, where the monopoly of using coercive power is not with the Central Government. Afghanistan may not be a failed state but 15% of its landmass is in rebel hands and its divided government hangs by a thread with the support of US forces.

Competitive escalation was evident in 2013 between Ayman al-Zawahiris al-Qaeda and the budding Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), over the Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra. Their dispute arose when al-Zawahiri rejected al-Baghadi (ISIS)s order of merger of al-Nusra with ISIS, which was earlier known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). US National Security Agency (NSA) picked up chatters indicating that al-Zawahiris al-Qaeda, then known as al-Qaeda (Central), would mount spectacular attacks on US embassies to show who was more powerful. It resulted in the temporary closure of 22 US embassies in the Middle East and North Africa.

By 2014, global watchers were surprised with the agility of ISIS in capturing Iraqi towns in quick succession. In June 2014, it over-ran Mosul and announced a Caliphate. That was the beginning of the splintering of al-Qaeda (Central) with its 36 affiliates from Indonesia to Morocco, joining the ISIS bandwagon as its Vilayats. That was the period when both al-Qaeda and ISIS had continued indulging in competitive escalation of terrorist attacks to show their might.

The Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC) at West Point had published an assessment in December 2018 on Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan (ISK), whose total lethality and mortality per attack increased every year in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was mainly due to their high end and low end cooperation with 11 local associates. Though, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani had made an announcement on ISK in January 2015, it was preceded by defections by nine former al-Qaeda local leaders in Afghanistan and six Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2014. In 2016, they announced Kashmir as part of Wilayat Khorasan.

As a result, they were able to conduct 211 attacks, resulting in 1,511 deaths in Afghanistan between January 2014 and July 2018. During the same period, they organized 83 attacks in Pakistan with 706 deaths. ISK carried out the second-deadliest attack in Pakistans history in July 2018, by bombing an election rally in Balochistan, killing 149.On July 1, 2018, ISK carried out a suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, killing 19, mostly Sikhs who were going to meet the visiting President Ashraf Ghani.

The purpose of this piece is to flag threats to India from other groups, not necessarily Pakistans proxies in Afghanistan, after US withdrawal.

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Kabul Attack Shows Pakistan-backed Terrorists Are Not The Only Threat To Indo-Afghan Ties - Outlook India

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed that a military helicopter made an emergency landing in North-eastern Takhar province.

According to a statement released by MoD, the Mi-17 helicopter belonging to the Afghan military, made an emergency landing in Taloqan city on Thursday.

The statement further added that the helicopter has likely made an emergency landing due to bad weather conditions.

However, the defense ministry said it will investigate the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the incident.

The Ministry of Defense also added that the helicopter made the emergency landing in a safe area and no one on-board, including the pilots of the helicopter sustained injuries.

The Khaama Press News Agency is the leading and largest English news service for Afghanistan with over 3 million hits a month.Independent authors/columnists and experts are welcomed to contribute stories, opinions and editorials. Send stories to news@khaama.com.

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MoD investigating the emergency landing of Mi-17 helicopter in NE of Afghanistan - The Khaama Press News Agency

Armed terroristsattackeda Gurudwara in Shor Bazar Area of Afghanistan on Wednesday. Twenty-eight people lost their lives in the dastardly attack. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, however, the possible role of the Tehreek-e-Taliban backed by Pakistan has not been ruled out. Earlier, it was reported the Islamic Statecommuniqueclaiming responsibility for the attack identified the terrorist as an Indian national Abu Khalid al-Hindi who carried out the attack in order to avenge the supposed plight of Muslims in Kashmir. Meanwhile, Afghan and Western security agencies believe that the attack was ordered by Quetta Shura of the Taliban at the behest of Pakistani intelligence. As per areportby Hindustan Times, the operation was code-named Blackstar and the Haqqani Network led by Talibans deputy commander Sirajuddin Haqqani and elements of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba were used to carry out the attack. Now, it has emerged that Abu Khalid al-Hindi who attacked Sikhs in Afghanistan was one Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal who had escaped from Kasargod, Kerala in 2015 to join ISIS, reported ANI.

Four years ago, Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal had escaped to join ISIS. Before he did, he was a shopkeeper in Kasargod, Kerala. He had joined ISIS along with 14 others from Kasargod itself. Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal was wanted by NIA in its 2016 Kasargod ISIS module case and had a red corner notice out against him.

The 2016 Kasargod IS module caserelatesto the criminal conspiracy hatched by terrorists from Kasaragod district of Kerala since Ramadan, 2015, with the intention of joining and furthering the objectives of ISIS. As part of the conspiracy, 14 accused from Kasaragod district had left India or their workplaces in Middle-East Asia between mid-May and early July 2016, before travelling to Afghanistan or Syria, where they joined the ISIS.

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During the investigation by Kerala Police, the role of 29-year-old Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid, a resident of Batla House, Okhla Jamia Nagar, New Delhi but originally from Sitamarhi district of Bihar, as a co-conspirator of Abdul Rashid was revealed. She was arrested on August 1, 2016, after she was intercepted at Indira Gandhi International Airport while attempting to exit India for Afghanistan, along with her child. As per the Kerala police, Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid was actively aiding Abdul Rashid in his activities including raising funds to support ISIS. The case was handed over to the NIA after she was arrested.

Read: ISIS shifting base to Afghanistan, poses threat to South Asian countries including India: Iran Minister

The NIA investigation revealed that Abdul Rashid, Yasmeen and others from 2015 were involved in activities to further objectives of the ISIS in Kerala and other places of India. 15 people including Sajid had fled from Kerala, India to join the terror group in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.

The involvement of Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal was revealed by the NIA after he joined the ISIS. Sajid had left on March 31, 2015 for Dubai from the Mumbai airport. Others had all left on different dates. It was reported that all of them had gone to Iran before going off the radar.

The NIA chargesheet said, Preliminary investigation in the above cases revealed that the missing persons left India and joined the IS in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The accused are continuing their anti-national activities by propagating the ideology of and inviting support for the IS, through various means including, but not limited to, Internet based social media platforms.

The NIA website still has Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal as one of the most wanted terrorists.

Wilayat Khorasan of Islamic State in Afghanistan (ISIS-K), the group Mohammed Sajid is said to have joined, mainly comprises of terrorists from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Earlier in 2019, 900 terrorists, some of whom were family members of Indians who had joined ISIS, surrendered in the Eastern province of Nangarhar, where the Afghan national security forces were conducting operations against the ISIS. The operations started on the 12th of November 2019 against the terror outfit. 93 terrorists, that included several Pakistanis, had surrendered only hours after Afghanistans offensive against the terror outfit began on the 12th of November 2019.

Interestingly, it wasreported that the Khorasan group of ISIS, or the ISIS-K, had attempted a suicide attack in India in 2018. This was claimed by a top US official. The ISIS-K operates in South Asia and according to Russel Travers, Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of Director of National Intelligence, ISIS-K concerns the US the most among all of its other branches.

Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern, probably in the neighbourhood of 4,000 individuals or so, Travers hadsaidin response to a question from Maggie Hassan, the junior Senator from New Hampshire. They have attempted to certainly inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan. They attempted last year to conduct a suicide attack in India. It failed, he had added.

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Abu Khalid al-Hindi who attacked Sikhs in Afghanistan was one Mohammed Sajid from Kasargod ISIS module, Kerala: Here is all you need to know - OpIndia

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday decided to keep Pakistans western and Indian borders closed for another two weeks as part of precautions to stem the novel coronavirus.

The decision came at a meeting of the National Coordination Committee held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair today.

In a tweet after the meeting, Special Assistant to PM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yousuf said: In the NCC for COVID-19 meeting on the 26th, we have decided to keep Pakistans western [border with Iran and Afghanistan] and Indian borders completely closed for another 2 weeks.

In the NCC for COVID-19 meeting on the 26th, we have decided to keep Pakistans western and Indian borders completely closed for another 2 weeks.

Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) March 27, 2020

The meeting took an overview of the situation arising out of coronavirus and measures to cope with it.

Read More: PM announces corona relief fund, orders release of lockdown detainees

The participants gave a practical demonstration of the precautionary measures to avoid coronavirus by observing social distance in their seating arrangement.

Earlier, on March 13, the federal government had decided to seal Pakistans western border with Afghanistan and Iran in an attempt to contain the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Read More: Coronavirus pandemic: NCC decides to lift ban on goods transport

Later on March 20, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the opening of the Chaman-Spin Boldak border to Afghanistan for trucks to crossover to the other side.

He tweeted: Despite global pandemic of COVID 19, we remain committed to supporting our Afghan brothers & sisters. I have given instructions to open the Chaman-Spin Boldak border & let trucks crossover into Afghanistan. In time of crisis, we remain steadfast with Afghanistan.

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Pakistans borders with Iran, Afghanistan, India to remain shut for another 2 weeks - ARY NEWS

Almost a week since the Afghan Taliban trumpeted the defeat of the Islamic State in Afghanistans Kunar province, U.S. officials remain wary, though they concede the terror groups grip on territory in rural areas appears to be slipping.

The latest assessment is consistent with U.S. appraisals of previous claims by both Taliban and Afghan government officials, which they say, while based in fact, have at times overstated gains against one of the Islamic States most resilient and dangerous affiliates.

The Talibans campaign against ISIS-Khorasan in Kunar province is consistent with Taliban public statements to rout the group from Afghanistan, a U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA, using an acronym for the terror group.

ISIS-Khorasan has continued to face pressure from the Taliban in Kunar province this year, the official said, cautioning, Recent attacks in Kabul claimed by ISIS-Khorasan indicate the group is still active and capable of conducting attacks in urban centers.

Taliban officials first started sharing word of the Islamic States defeat in Kunar on March 14, saying it was the result of a 14-day operation that took advantage of better weather across the mountainous, northeastern Afghan province.

The entire province of Kunar was cleared of Daesh criminals and the people were rescued through this victory, the Taliban said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.

The statement also claimed 114 IS-Khorasan members surrendered to Taliban forces, while more than 100 others fled.

But U.S. officials have pushed back against the idea that the Taliban alone were responsible for the recent gains.

Several dozen ISIS-Khorasan fighters have also surrendered to Afghan forces over the past few weeks, the counterterrorism official said, noting ongoing operations by both the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition.

Top U.S. military officials also argue the Talibans efforts against IS-Khorasan, also known as IS-K or ISIS-K, have benefited from very limited U.S. support.

"We suspended actively pursuing Taliban units engaged with ISIS-K, a military official said on the condition of anonymity, pointing to fighting late last year in Nangarhar province.

We also conducted some strikes on known ISIS-K locations, the official said. However, those strikes were not coordinated with the Taliban."

'A bloody mess'

But top U.S. officials admit that Taliban efforts against IS-Khorasan have proven effective.

"We've watched the Taliban compress and crush ISISs presence on the ground in southern Nangarhar province," U.S. Central Commands General Kenneth McKenzie told lawmakers earlier this month.

That's some of the worst terrain in the world," he said. "It was a bloody mess, but they did it."

Yet questions persist about just how debilitating defeats in Nangarhar province and elsewhere have been for IS-Khorasan.

Recent U.S. estimates on the number of IS-Khorasan fighters have varied between 1,000 and as many as 5,000. Just last month, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said it was possible IS-Khorasan had lost up to half its force because of pressure from coalition, Afghan and Taliban operations.

Still, U.S. military official caution they have low confidence in the lower estimates. They note that IS-Khorasan has been repeatedly pushed to the brink, losing key leaders while seeing its numbers whittled to the low hundreds, only to bounce back.

Losing territory does not equate to the end of ISIS and its affiliates, a Defense Department inspector general's report concluded last month. Even when ISIS-K was based in Nangarhar, it had established cells in other parts of the country and demonstrated the ability to spread and recruit.

Looking ahead

Some analysts also caution that the leaders of IS-Khorasan, like their counterparts in Iraq and Syria, may be less focused on holding territory, instead looking to lay the groundwork for a larger resurgence after U.S. forces leave Afghanistan.

U.S. intelligence indicates that despite having lost territory in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, IS-Khorasan still has strongholds in Herat province and parts of Kabul, while maintaining smaller cells in Helmand, Kapisa and Baghlan provinces.

There are also indications that IS-Khorasan is focusing on more global ambitions.

"Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern,"Russell Travers,former acting director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, told lawmakers last November.

"They have attempted, certainly, to inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan," he said, adding "they certainly have got the desire" to carry out the attacks themselves.

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US Admits Taliban Offensive Is Whittling IS's Grip on Afghanistan - VOA News