The US government says the new head of ISIS since June 2020 is Sanaullah Ghafari, also known as Shehab Mohajer. Sanaullah Ghaffari has the authority to approve all operations and also to finance the extremist organization.
According to Afghan journalists, according to Shahab Mohajer’s identity card, he was a special guard of First Vice President Amrullah Saleh in the previous government, while he was also given a license to transfer weapons in 2017.
According to the US government, Sanaullah Ghafari has been leading the ISIS Khurasan group since May 9.
Sanaullah Ghafari, AKA Shahab al-Muhajir, is ISIS-K’s current overall emir. He was appointed by the ISIS core to lead ISIS-K in June 2020. Ghafari is responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations. pic.twitter.com/fBcuua5avZ
– State Dept CT Bureau (tStateDeptCT) November 22, 2021
Amrullah Saleh wrote on his Twitter account after the US State Department statement that Sanaullah Ghafari belonged to the Haqqani Network, but denied that he had been issued an arms supply license during the previous regime and that Amrullah Saleh was a security guard. Couldn’t do that which has been circulating on social media.
In the previous government, Amrullah Saleh was made responsible for the security of Kabul and at the same time Sanaullah Ghaffari was working for his security as well as for ISIS and at the same time he was involved in various attacks in various public places. Numerous attacks are involved.
SAM obtained a weapons license from interior ministry’s counter- Terrorism department on Friday 10, March, 2017. pic.twitter.com/oifQ3WOqRJ
– BILAL SARWARY (arbsarwary) November 23, 2021
It is believed that the Taliban have been disassociating themselves from all attacks on mosques and bazaars, but Amrullah Saleh has always insisted that the Taliban are involved, which apparently indicates an alliance between ISIS and the former Afghan government or Amrullah Saleh. Are doing
Analysts believe that handing over responsibility for security in Kabul to Saleh and handing over responsibility for ISIS to his special guard and then escalating attacks on civilian installations in Kabul show a strong link between the previous government and ISIS.
Taliban sources said that Sanaullah still has direct links with the Panjshiri Resistance Group, which is making joint plans and trying to create chaos.
Sanaullah was the bodyguard of Amrullah Saleh, son of Jabbar Khan, who reached Khawarij province through his direct efforts. The first attack was carried out at Kabul airport with financial and logistical support from Indian intelligence, and then blew up several mosques. pic.twitter.com/jXF1V4pCNb
– Jahid Jalal | Jahid Jalal (A_Jahid_Jalal) November 23, 2021
It should be noted that since the Taliban came to power in Kabul in mid-August, ISIS has been involved in several major attacks and dozens of small attacks and bombings.
A few days before the US evacuation, more than 100 people were killed in an ISIS attack on Kabul airport, and on October 9, an explosion during Friday prayers at the Akhundzad Mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killed about 100 people.
One week later, on October 15, the militant group targeted Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city, where a bomb blast at a mosque during Friday prayers killed at least 40 people and injured 70 worshipers.
At least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Military Hospital in Kabul on November 3, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.
The Taliban operation against ISIS is currently underway in most parts of Afghanistan, while in recent days, several Taliban fighters have been martyred in various ISIS operations. Although Taliban spokesmen have repeatedly said that ISIS is not a threat to us, after a series of operations, people now believe that the war in Afghanistan is not over, but that the Taliban face another challenge.
Former Afghan National Army joins ISIS
The American newspaper Wall Street Journal has claimed in a report that after leaving America for Afghanistan, former Afghan soldiers and spies are now being recruited in ISIS due to their helplessness.
According to the report, some former members of the Afghan intelligence service and elite force personnel trained by the United States have now joined ISIS. The number of defecting veterans joining the terrorist group is relatively small but is steadily increasing.
The report further states that the new recruits to ISIS have significant expertise in intelligence gathering and combat techniques. These ex-servicemen could enhance the militant group’s ability to counter the Taliban’s supremacy.
In some areas, ISIS has become a lucrative organization for former members of the Afghan security and defense forces, said Rehmatullah Nabil, a former head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency. Especially those soldiers who could not leave the country have joined the ranks of ISIS.
Left behind after the US withdrawal and hunted by the Taliban, some of Afghanistan’s former spies and soldiers trickle to join the only force currently challenging the country’s new rulers: Islamic State. My latest from Kabul in @WSJ https://t.co/aNRZ2z5Aum
– Yaroslav Trofimov (rotyarotrof) October 31, 2021
When did ISIS become Khorasan?
ISIL Khurasan has been active in Afghanistan and Pakistan for some time, and in the last few years it has carried out deadly attacks in both countries. Mosques, shrines, public places and even hospitals were not spared during their operations.
The terrorist organization ISIS Khurasan was tarnished in Kunar, Afghanistan in 2014, shortly before the establishment of the Khilafah by the central organization in Syria. This branch of ISIS was named Islamic State of Khorasan after the ancient region of Khorasan based on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Central Asian countries.
Experts on the subject of terrorism and extremism believe that the key role in founding ISIS Khurasan was played by the Pakistani Taliban who fled to Afghanistan to escape the Pakistan Army.
The group initially limited itself to the border areas but later succeeded in consolidating its roots in northeastern Afghanistan, especially in the provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan.
According to a recent UN report, ISIL Khurasan has 500 core members, while the extremists working for it could be in the thousands.