ISIS sweeps in near Jalalabad.

[waz]

Isis spreads to Afghanistan as 1,600 militants pledge allegiance to terror group | Asia | News | The Independent

Isis has invaded Afghanistan and captured multiple districts in the country, it has been reported.

The terror group is said to have captured four districts south of Jalalabad as part of their drive to establish a new province for their self-styled ‘caliphate’. The Times reports that up to 1,600 fighters are involved with the surge, which is driven by Isis’ regional affiliate, Wilayat Khorasan.

Pictures posted on Twitter by supporters of the group claim to show the 'Sheikh Jalaluddin training camp', named after Khorasan's former mufti, who was killed in a US air strike in October. The Long War Journal reports that this camp is most likely in the Nangarhar province in the east of Afghanistan.


The Afghan army are reportedly struggling to contain the threat amid heavy personnel losses and daily battle; with up to 500 personnel deaths per month.

Tens of thousands of villagers have fled their communities in a bid to escape the advancing threat.

The group’s surge is thought to have been facilitated by a splintered Taliban and withdrawal of Western troops.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon said that the US government is aware of the group’s growing presence in Afghanistan, tellingThe Times: "We are aware of the presence of Isil-affiliated militants in Afghanistan, and we are monitoring closely to see whether their emergence will have a meaningful impact on the threat environment in the region."

On Wednesday the British Government voted in favour of bombing Isis in Syria. The decision followed more than 10 hours of debate and was passed with an overwhelming majority of 174 MPs.

The region's problems have just got a whole load worse. I'm not sure the Afghans know what is even coming with this cancer. There are credible reports that over 100 ISIS officers, from Iraq and Syria, are leading the fighting.

 

[Blue Marlin]

ISIS moves in on Afghanistan: Chilling pictures show jihadis have set up terror training camps as it's claimed they have KILLED the Taliban's leader and seized control of large parts of the war-torn nation

• Taliban has been divided by a bitter turmoil, leading to ISIS-led splinter cell
• ISIS is targeting Taliban's territory in Afghanistan with a campaign of terror
• Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour is reported to have been shot dead
• His death could be an ISIS attempt to destroy Taliban from the top down
• See our full news coverage of ISIS at www.dailymail.co.uk/isis

Reports emerged this week that the Taliban leader was killed in a dramatic internal shoot-out after a meeting of commanders of the now divided movement turned sour.

The formerly united group has been severed by a bitter internal turmoil that has seen a splinter cell break away and declare loyalty to ISIS, which is steadily carving a trail of bloody destruction through the Taliban’s Afghanistan territory.

It is believed that members of the ISIS-led breakaway cell could be responsible for the as yet unconfirmed death of the Taliban’s elected leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

His death, if proven, exposes the strife among the Taliban’s top ranks as the group seems to be crumbling under ISIS’ growing strength in Afghanistan.

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'Killed': Reports have emerged this week that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been shot dead at a meeting of commanders of the now divided insurgent group

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Brutal: ISIS is pushing to expand its so-called caliphate into Afghanistan, and is gradually destroying the now divided Taliban's control. ISIS fighters have captured vast swathes of the country since last autumn

ISIS would have good reason to want to take out the head of the Taliban group, weakening the group as it moves in on its Afghanistan territory.

ISIS’s regional affiliate, Wilayat Khurasan, has entrenched itself in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and launched a violent campaign against local Afghans to crush any opposition.


Its fighters have defeated the local Taliban and have begun recruiting new members from 25 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

A series of shocking photographs have emerged from inside the ISIS training camps, hidden deep in the forests of the mountainous region.

Men wearing yellow balaclavas and clutching AK-47s sit in regimented rows in front of ISIS flags, while other images show the fighters learning how to use the weapons.

Although officials initially dismissed the threat that ISIS poses to the country, they have now been forced to sit up and take notice as its growth and wealth expands at an alarming rate.

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Learning: ISIS fighters in a training camp in Afghanistan, into which the so-called caliphate is expanding at an alarming rate

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Ranks: ISIS fighters are pictured learning how to shoot guns, while flanked with fellow fighters. It is believed that the terror group has up to 1,600 fighters in Afghanistan

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Armed: Terrorists fighters learn how to use heavy weapons in the training camp. Locals have reported gruesome tales of unmerciless violence, with beheadings and torture instilling fear into Afghans’ hearts

‘ISIL [ISIS] in Afghanistan are the flag of convenience for disaffected Taliban, Pakistani Taliban, and an assortment of Chechen and Uzbek fighters,’ a senior diplomat in Kabul told The Times.

‘They are not an immediate international threat in the way they are in the Middle East but in three to five years they could be.

‘Thought ideologically different from the Taliban, they have the ability to morph into something more dangerous.’

He added: ‘ISIL here has money, more money than that Taliban for reasons we do not quite understand.’

The group’s campaign of terror reflects with alarming similarities its expansion in other countries.

Locals have reported gruesome tales of unmerciless violence, with beheadings and torture instilling fear into Afghans' hearts.

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Line-up: In just a matter of months ISIS fighters had overthrown the Taliban across regions of Afghanistan

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Movement: A UN report released in September detailed ISIS’s expansive recruitment network in Afghanistan, via its local faction Wilayat Khurasan

 

[Blue Marlin]

A propaganda video released by Wilayat Khurasan shows 10 local men from the Shinwari tribe in Kot district, blindfolded and forced to kneel on a chain of explosives before being blown to pieces.

The graphic video, filmed from multiple angles, shows lingering images of the body parts remaining.

ISIS’s subtle invasion of Afghanistan began last autumn, although it took weeks for locals to realise who the foreigners were that were settling in their midst.

Before late July, the terror group had forced Taliban fighters out of the region and emerged from the mountain valleys of Peha and Mamond, attacking police and army units as they went.

At first, Wilayat Khurasan was seen more as a Taliban splinter group than an ISIS-led faction.

But a UN report released in September detailed ISIS’s expansive recruitment network in Afghanistan, via its local faction.

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Discipline: Images from inside the training camp reveal fighters wearing yellow balaclavas in regimented rows

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Strength: Estimates now put the numbers of ISIS fighters in the four districts south of Jalalabad at somewhere between 1,200 and 1,600

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Education: At the training camp run by ISIS's Afghan faction, which is taking over vast swathes of the country

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Aim: Members of ISIS' Afghanistan faction Wilayat Khurasan undergo training in the east of the country

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ISIS fighters who are expanding the so-called caliphate into Afghanistan pose in front of the terror group's flag

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The group began its terrifying expansion into Afghanistan last autumn but it was only internationally acknowledge in September, but a UN report

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ISIS’s campaign of terror in Afghanistan reflects with alarming similarities its expansion in other countries

It claimed some 70 of ISIS's elite fighters had come from Iraq and Syria to drive the creation of the jihadists’ branch in the country.

Estimates now put the numbers of ISIS fighters in the four districts south of Jalalabad at somewhere between 1,200 and 1,600.

U.S. officials have also acknowledged the threat.

‘We used to call it nascent,’ said General John Campbell, commander of U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, in July.

‘Now we say it is probably operationally emergent.’

The reported death of the Taliban’s elected leader in the country could prove to be one of the final nails in the group’s coffin, as ISIS moves to destroy the Taliban from the top down.

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A Taliban fighter sits on a motorcycle adorned with the Taliban flag north of Kabul, Afghanistan. ISIS are moving in on Taliban territory in Afghanistan

 

[Blue Marlin]

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ISIS fighters pose with the terror group's flag in Syria. A branch of the group in Afghanistan is recruiting members in 25 of the country's 34 provinces (file image)

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ISIS fighters began their invastion of Afghanistan last autumn, although it took months for officials to acknowledge the threat the group posed in the country (file image)

The alleged shooting comes just four months after Mansour’s election as leader, which sparked immediate splits in the group.

Some top leaders refused to pledge allegiance to Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and biased.

A breakaway faction of the Taliban led by Mullah Mohamed Rasool was formed last month, in the first formal split in the once-unified group.

The fault-line formed between those supporting renewed peace talks with Kabul in the 36-year-old conflict, and the groups allied to ISIS fighting to overthrow it.

Rasool’s deputy, Mallah Dadullah, was killed last month in a gunfight with Mansour loyalists, according to Afghan officials.

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Afghan special forces arrive for a battle with the Taliban in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan (file image). At first, Wilayat Khurasan was seen more as a Taliban splinter group than an ISIS-led faction.

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Afghanistan's security forces take their positions during a clash with Taliban fighters north of Kabul, Afghanistan (file image). A breakaway faction of the Taliban led by Mullah Mohamed Rasool was formed last month, in the first formal split in the once-unified group.

Now Rasool’s faction appears to have taken its revenge.

But the Taliban, which concealed the death of its previous leader, Mullah Omar, for two years, has insisted that Mansour is alive and well.

‘The sheer volume of rumours suggesting that something has happened to Mansour will pressure the Taliban to offer proof that he’s alive,’ a Western official in Kabul said.

‘Simply posting denials…won’t be considered credible enough, especially after Omar’s death was concealed for years.’

The Taliban’s main spokesman said on Saturday that he had received an audio statement from Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and would release it shortly.

The statement on Twitter follows days of uncertainty as to whether Mansour was killed during a shoot-out between the Taliban and a splinter cell that has claimed loyalty to ISIS.

‘A new message from the leader of Islamic Emirate, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has just reached us. It will be released soon,’ Zabihulla Mujahid said.

Has ISIS killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the head of the Taliban? | Daily Mail Online

 

[waz]

Some old pics bro, also the Taliban have just released an audio from the present leader. These are very tough times for Afghanistan. I hope they get through it.

 

[Azadkashmir]

wow some pictures look fake and were the hell do they get their uniform from? boots? armour?guns? looks like it well financed. something fishy going on.

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

Some old pics bro, also the Taliban have just released an audio from the present leader. These are very tough times for Afghanistan. I hope they get through it.

If they dont get through it, then we'll have to get through it. ISIS has already declared war on Pakistan; if they want bombs could go off within seconds all over Pakistan. We cannot wait for a tragedy to occur, we have to defeat the source of all terrorism in Pakistan - it is time to take the fight into Afghanistan - we have the momentum.

 

[illusion8]

If they dont get through it, then we'll have to get through it. ISIS has already declared war on Pakistan; if they want bombs could go off within seconds all over Pakistan. We cannot wait for a tragedy to occur, we have to defeat the source of all terrorism in Pakistan - it is time to take the fight into Afghanistan - we have the momentum.

You can do that with concensus. .I think regional players, including India, Iran, China and Pakistan should come together against isis in south asia.

 

[Indika]

wow some pictures look fake and were the hell do they get their uniform from? boots? armour?guns? looks like it well financed. something fishy going on.

yup, knee guards, dress...every thing looks quite uniform and professional. Seems afghanistan will become refuge for ISIS scums who are trying to escape from syria.

 

[IndoUS]

At this point there should be shoot on site order, no prisoners. Kill every ISIS scum with impunity.

 

[Azadkashmir]

i hope taliban deal with them they way more dangerous than taliban.

 

[Falcon29]

wow some pictures look fake and were the hell do they get their uniform from? boots? armour?guns? looks like it well financed. something fishy going on.

No they aren't well financed, low range rifles and thobes, nothing new. I can't confirm that there is such a thing as ISIS in Afghanistan and if there is do they actually control any towns. I doubt this news to be honest. It's just a trendy thing with jihadists, ISIS is newest fabric so they will jump bandwagon then later abandon it and try whatever comes next. Sort of like how better mobile phones keep coming out, people want to try new things. It seems their ideology does attract more attention since that group has no sponsor and doesn't serve interests of any states. Most Islamist militant groups are sponsored by countries to help serve their interests so to ISIS folks that isn't a real 'jihad'.

yup, knee guards, dress...every thing looks quite uniform and professional. Seems afghanistan will become refuge for ISIS scums who are trying to escape from syria.

This is locals from Afghanistan. It's nothing new, many Islamist groups are seeing divisions or at least defectors. But these defectors live in fantasy land and don't recognize responsibilities that come along. You can't just fight for the sake of fighting, you need objectives, government, win peoples support and have actual reason.

 

[Imran Khan]

the best jihad is jihadi vs jihadi lets hope talipork and baghdadi dogs kill each other

 

[HRK]

the best jihad is jihadi vs jihadi lets hope talipork and baghdadi dogs kill each other

Can you interpret what this pic indicates .... ??

your wish is not going to be fulfilled any time soon ....

 

[Providence]

just fear propaganda I must say to get over the guilt that UK air force gonna pound some random villages in middle-east!

Chill peeps. This was for domestic consumption