Former Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh says ISIS- Khorasan has roots in Taliban and Haqqani network operating in Kabul

Former Afghan vice-president AmrullahSaleh has said thatISIS- Khorasan has roots in the Taliban and Haqqani network operating in Kabul.

It comes after several blasts outside Kabul airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

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Claiming responsibility for the attack,Islamic State (ISIS) said one of its suicide bombers targeted "translators and collaborators with the American army."

The blasts came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the USofficially ends its 20-year presence on Aug. 31.

What is Islamic State-Khorasan?

ISIS-K is an independent and self-proclaimed branch ofIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant. This terrorist group includes breakaway fighters from the Pakistani Taliban group who joined the militants of Afghanistan and announced their own rule in Syria and Iraq in 2014.

However, it gained support and acknowledgment from the central Islamic State leadership a year after its formation. The support came after the leadership was satisfied with the effect and the roots the group had established in the northeastern Afghanistan, especially inKunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces.

Islamic State-Khorasan's relationship withthe Taliban

IS-Khorasan and the Taliban are both rigid Sunni Islamist militants who claim to be the true flag bearers of jihad.

The two groups have not looked eye to eye on several matters and that has often led to a bloody fight between the two, in which the Taliban has usually been declared victorious.

Reportedly,Islamic State-Khorasan was also not very happy with the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan.