Towards the end of the chaotic and violent departure of US forces from Kabul last year, a question began to be asked by Western defence experts. Would their departure lead to a resurgence of the ISIS ‘branch’ in Afghanistan, ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province)? The question took on added salience when ISKP claimed to have carried out an appalling suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport last August, killing at least 90 and wounding over 150.
Among the dead were 13 US soldiers, and while the assumption was that they were the intended targets, the bombing also raised the issue of ISKP’s deep antipathy to the Taliban regime as it moved to take over the whole country. What was not clear then was whether that antipathy would persist, and also whether Al Qaeda in Afghanistan would retain its links with the Taliban.
Together, these questions raised fears that the country would be used as a base for future international operations by these groups.
