The death of the Islamic State chief is being cast as a milestone in the 'War on Terror'. But the devil remains in the details. This time, ISIS has spread all over the region with its fragmented leadership. Ghadi Francis tells you why ISIS is far from being vanquished.

The West Asia Post: Death of ISIS chief raises questions

US lawmakers considered president Biden's nominee to lead the military's top command overseeing operations in the middle east in a wide-ranging senate confirmation hearing. Lieutenant general Michael Kurilla warned that Al Qaeda and ISIS are reconstituting.

Michael Kurilla: Al Qaeda and ISIS reconstituting

Top pics: How US raided ISIS leader's compound in northern Syria

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement. He said that all Americans returned safely from the operation.

"Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops," Biden said in the statement.

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Reports of the operation were doing rounds in media before the official statement from the president. It was initially thought that an Al Qaeda terrorist was the target.&nbsp;It has been reported that At least 13 people, including six children and four women were killed in the clashes. &nbsp;The raid targetted a house in the Atmeh area near the Turkish border.

After the initial reports, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had confirmed that such a raid had taken place. Biden's statement was released after this.&nbsp;

"US Special Operations forces under the control of US&nbsp;Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in the statement earlier.

A US official said that "at the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children."

&nbsp;“We all remember the gut wrenching stories, mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used a weapon of war,” and that “this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said.

(With inputs from agencies)

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden said that US forces had eliminated Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, a leader of ISIS in a raid in Syria. The raid was carried out under his direction, Biden said in a statement. He said that all Americans returned safely from the operation. "Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops," Biden said in the statement. × Reports of the operation were doing rounds in media before the official statement from the president. It was initially thought that an Al Qaeda terrorist was the target. It has been reported that At least 13 people, including six children and four women were killed in the clashes. The raid targetted a house in the Atmeh area near the Turkish border. After the initial reports, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had confirmed that such a raid had taken place. Biden's statement was released after this. "US Special Operations forces under the control of US Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in the statement earlier. A US official said that "at the beginning of the operation the terrorist target exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children." “We all remember the gut wrenching stories, mass slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used a weapon of war,” and that “this horrible terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said. (With inputs from agencies)

ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim exploded a bomb that killed him: US official

The leader of the Islamic state has been killed in a counter-terror operation carried out by the United States in north-western Syria. The US president Joe Biden gave the green light to the operations on Wednesday.

US conducts counter-terrorism mission, ISIS leader blew himself up during raids

ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was taken out by the Americans during a raid in Northwestern Syria. Will the operation contain the Islamic State's resurgence in Syria? Molly Gambhir tells you.

Gravitas: ISIS leader killed in US operation in Syria

The leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi blew himself and his family members up during a US military raid in Syria.

US: Blast killed ISIS leader, members of his family

US President Joe Biden says an elite US military force killed the leader of the Islamic State group, during an overnight raid in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

Current leader of ISIS killed in US raid in Syria, says Joe Biden

A woman in the United States has been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist group as she is accused of leading an all-female Islamic State battalion in Syria.&nbsp;

The US Justice Department announced on Saturday (January 29) and informed that the woman has been identified as Allison Fluke-Ekren, formerly of the US state of Kansas.&nbsp;

As per the justice department, Ekren had been named in a sealed criminal complaint filed in 2019 in a federal Virginia court and if convicted of the charges, she will face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.&nbsp;

The documents revealed that she had planned an attack on a US college campus and spoke of organising a devastating attack on an American shopping mall.&nbsp;

As per court documents, she travelled to Syria for the purpose of committing or supporting terrorism and had allegedly been involved with a number of terrorism-related activities on behalf of ISIS from at least 2014.

The statement said the 42-year-old Fluke-Ekren had been apprehended previously in Syria but was transferred into FBI custody on Friday.&nbsp;

As per the statement, she is expected to make her initial appearance before the US District Court for Eastern Virginia, in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, on Monday at 2:00pm (local time). &nbsp;

A woman in the United States has been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist group as she is accused of leading an all-female Islamic State battalion in Syria.

A woman in the United States has been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist group as she is accused of leading an all-female Islamic State battalion in Syria. The US Justice Department announced on Saturday (January 29) and informed that the woman has been identified as Allison Fluke-Ekren, formerly of the US state of Kansas. As per the justice department, Ekren had been named in a sealed criminal complaint filed in 2019 in a federal Virginia court and if convicted of the charges, she will face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The documents revealed that she had planned an attack on a US college campus and spoke of organising a devastating attack on an American shopping mall. As per court documents, she travelled to Syria for the purpose of committing or supporting terrorism and had allegedly been involved with a number of terrorism-related activities on behalf of ISIS from at least 2014. The statement said the 42-year-old Fluke-Ekren had been apprehended previously in Syria but was transferred into FBI custody on Friday. As per the statement, she is expected to make her initial appearance before the US District Court for Eastern Virginia, in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, on Monday at 2:00pm (local time).

US woman charged with aiding Islamic State, she was allegedly planning attacks

A prison attack in Syria is the latest sign of ISIS resurgence in the region. ISIS has mounted a series of recent attacks in both Syria and Iraq, suggesting it is re-emerging as a serious threat three years after it was driven out. Ghadi Francis tells you about this resurgence in this week's episode of The West Asia Post.

The West Asia Post: Kurdish fighters recapture prison after a week

In Syria, US-backed Kurdish forces advanced inside a detention facility that came under attack by Islamic State militants last week.

Syria prison standoff: 550 Jihadists turn themselves in as SDF gains control

An audacious attack on a Syrian prison that houses thousands of Islamic State detainees. A series of strikes against military forces in neighboring Iraq. The dissemination of a video showing the beheading of a kidnapped Iraqi police officer.

The evidence of a resurgence of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is mounting by the day, three years after the militants lost their last territorial foothold in the so-called caliphate, which once stretched across vast parts of the two countries. The fact that the Islamic State group was able to mount multiple, coordinated and sophisticated attacks is evidence that what had been believed to be disparate sleeper cells are re-emerging as a more serious threat.

“It’s a wake-up call for regional players, for national players that ISIS is not over, that the fight is not over,” said Kawa Hassan, Middle East and North Africa director at the Stimson Center think tank. “It shows the resilience of ISIS to strike back at the time and place of their choosing.”

On Thursday, Islamic State fighters attacked a prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka in an attempt to free the 3,500 prisoners held there and took a group of detained boys hostage to use as human shields. The assault drew the U.S. military into fight in what has become the biggest confrontation between U.S. forces and the Islamic State in three years.

By Tuesday, the Islamic State attackers still controlled part of the prison in Hasaka, even after the United States sent in ground troops and air support for the Kurdish-led forces trying to take it back.

In Iraq last week, around the same time as the prison attack began, ISIS fighters stormed an army outpost in Diyala province, killing 10 soldiers and an officer in the deadliest attack in several years on an Iraqi military base. Gunmen approached the base from three sides late at night while some of the soldiers slept.

The success of the attack raised fears that some of the same conditions in Iraq that allowed for the rise of the Islamic State in 2014 were once again making room for it to reconstitute.

In December, the Islamic State kidnapped four Iraqi hunters in a mountainous area of northeast Iraq, including a police colonel. The militants beheaded the police officer, and then released a gruesome video of the kidnapping that was reminiscent of what was once a common practice during the reign of ISIS.

The attacks in Iraq, conducted by ISIS sleeper cells in remote mountain and desert areas, have highlighted a lack of coordination between Iraqi government forces and the Peshmerga, Kurdish forces that answer to the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Many of the attacks take place in disputed territory claimed by both the Iraqi Kurdish government and the central government.

Ardian Shajkovci, director of the American Counterterrorism Targeting &amp;amp; Resilience Institute, said many of the ISIS fighters arrested in attacks since the group lost the last of its territory three years ago were younger and came from families with older members who had ties to the Islamic State.

“If so, this is a new generation of ISIS recruits, changing the calculus and threat landscape in many ways,” he said.

Iraq has struggled to deal with tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens who are relatives of ISIS fighters and have been collectively punished and placed in detention camps, which are now seen as breeding grounds for radicalization.

Corruption in Iraqi security forces has left some bases in the country without proper supplies and allowed soldiers and officers to neglect their duties, contributing to the collapse of entire army divisions which retreated in 2014 rather than face the Islamic State. 
&nbsp;

An audacious attack on a Syrian prison that houses thousands of Islamic State detainees. A series of strikes against military forces in neighboring Iraq. The dissemination of a video showing the beheading of a kidnapped Iraqi police officer.

An audacious attack on a Syrian prison that houses thousands of Islamic State detainees. A series of strikes against military forces in neighboring Iraq. The dissemination of a video showing the beheading of a kidnapped Iraqi police officer. The evidence of a resurgence of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is mounting by the day, three years after the militants lost their last territorial foothold in the so-called caliphate, which once stretched across vast parts of the two countries. The fact that the Islamic State group was able to mount multiple, coordinated and sophisticated attacks is evidence that what had been believed to be disparate sleeper cells are re-emerging as a more serious threat. “It’s a wake-up call for regional players, for national players that ISIS is not over, that the fight is not over,” said Kawa Hassan, Middle East and North Africa director at the Stimson Center think tank. “It shows the resilience of ISIS to strike back at the time and place of their choosing.” On Thursday, Islamic State fighters attacked a prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka in an attempt to free the 3,500 prisoners held there and took a group of detained boys hostage to use as human shields. The assault drew the U.S. military into fight in what has become the biggest confrontation between U.S. forces and the Islamic State in three years. By Tuesday, the Islamic State attackers still controlled part of the prison in Hasaka, even after the United States sent in ground troops and air support for the Kurdish-led forces trying to take it back. In Iraq last week, around the same time as the prison attack began, ISIS fighters stormed an army outpost in Diyala province, killing 10 soldiers and an officer in the deadliest attack in several years on an Iraqi military base. Gunmen approached the base from three sides late at night while some of the soldiers slept. The success of the attack raised fears that some of the same conditions in Iraq that allowed for the rise of the Islamic State in 2014 were once again making room for it to reconstitute. In December, the Islamic State kidnapped four Iraqi hunters in a mountainous area of northeast Iraq, including a police colonel. The militants beheaded the police officer, and then released a gruesome video of the kidnapping that was reminiscent of what was once a common practice during the reign of ISIS. The attacks in Iraq, conducted by ISIS sleeper cells in remote mountain and desert areas, have highlighted a lack of coordination between Iraqi government forces and the Peshmerga, Kurdish forces that answer to the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Many of the attacks take place in disputed territory claimed by both the Iraqi Kurdish government and the central government. Ardian Shajkovci, director of the American Counterterrorism Targeting &amp; Resilience Institute, said many of the ISIS fighters arrested in attacks since the group lost the last of its territory three years ago were younger and came from families with older members who had ties to the Islamic State. “If so, this is a new generation of ISIS recruits, changing the calculus and threat landscape in many ways,” he said. Iraq has struggled to deal with tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens who are relatives of ISIS fighters and have been collectively punished and placed in detention camps, which are now seen as breeding grounds for radicalization. Corruption in Iraqi security forces has left some bases in the country without proper supplies and allowed soldiers and officers to neglect their duties, contributing to the collapse of entire army divisions which retreated in 2014 rather than face the Islamic State.

Prison attack is latest evidence of ISIS resurgence

U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said they regained control Monday of part of a prison in northeast Syria that Islamic State fighters had held since an attack Friday but that hundreds of boys were still being held as hostages

The prison houses approximately 3,000 suspected ISIS fighters in addition to almost 700 boys, who are being used by the Islamic State group as human shields.

An official with the paramilitary forces said that the Islamic State was threatening to kill the boys if the United States and the Kurdish-led force continued the assault on the prison.

Hundreds of Islamic State fighters attacked the makeshift prison Friday in an effort to free their detained comrades in one of the boldest attacks by the group in the region since the fall of its so-called caliphate three years ago.

The Kurdish-led force, the Syrian Democratic Forces, said that it had recaptured one of the prison’s three buildings in a dawn raid Monday and that about 300 Islamic State fighters had surrendered but the detained boys remained at risk.

The Rojava Information Center, which is run by pro-Syrian Kurdish activists, said part of the complex was still under Islamic State control.

“We have some reports saying that ISIS is threatening to kill all the minors if we continue attacking them,” said Farhad Shami, an SDF spokesman.

He estimated that 25% of the complex was still under Islamic State control.

The United States has launched Apache helicopter airstrikes over the past three days to try to break the siege, killing an unknown number of prisoners.

Shami said 30 SDF fighters had been killed in the operation to take back the prison, and that about 200 Islamic State fighters and inmates who joined them in an attempt to escape had been killed in the operation since Friday.

The inmates include boys as young as 12, including Syrians, Iraqis and about 150 non-Arab foreigners. Some were transferred to the prison when they were deemed too old to remain in detention camps that held families of Islamic State suspects.

The siege of the Ghweran prison in Hasaka demonstrated that the Islamic State still had the ability to mount a coordinated military operation, despite its territorial defeat by the United States and international forces three years ago. At its peak, the jihadi group held territory the size of Britain straddling Iraq and Syria.

The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazlum Kobani, said the Islamic State had mobilized sleeper cells and used suicide bombers to organize the breakout.

The SDF has complained for years that it lacked the ability to securely operate the prison, where Islamic State fighters were detained after they were vanquished from the battlefield in southeastern Syria three years ago. The prisoners hail from dozens of countries, most of which have refused to take them back.

U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said they regained control Monday of part of a prison in northeast Syria that Islamic State fighters had held since an attack Friday but that hundreds of boys were still being held as hostages The prison houses approximately 3,000 suspected ISIS fighters in addition to almost 700 boys, who are being used by the Islamic State group as human shields.

U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said they regained control Monday of part of a prison in northeast Syria that Islamic State fighters had held since an attack Friday but that hundreds of boys were still being held as hostages The prison houses approximately 3,000 suspected ISIS fighters in addition to almost 700 boys, who are being used by the Islamic State group as human shields. An official with the paramilitary forces said that the Islamic State was threatening to kill the boys if the United States and the Kurdish-led force continued the assault on the prison. Hundreds of Islamic State fighters attacked the makeshift prison Friday in an effort to free their detained comrades in one of the boldest attacks by the group in the region since the fall of its so-called caliphate three years ago. The Kurdish-led force, the Syrian Democratic Forces, said that it had recaptured one of the prison’s three buildings in a dawn raid Monday and that about 300 Islamic State fighters had surrendered but the detained boys remained at risk. The Rojava Information Center, which is run by pro-Syrian Kurdish activists, said part of the complex was still under Islamic State control. “We have some reports saying that ISIS is threatening to kill all the minors if we continue attacking them,” said Farhad Shami, an SDF spokesman. He estimated that 25% of the complex was still under Islamic State control. The United States has launched Apache helicopter airstrikes over the past three days to try to break the siege, killing an unknown number of prisoners. Shami said 30 SDF fighters had been killed in the operation to take back the prison, and that about 200 Islamic State fighters and inmates who joined them in an attempt to escape had been killed in the operation since Friday. The inmates include boys as young as 12, including Syrians, Iraqis and about 150 non-Arab foreigners. Some were transferred to the prison when they were deemed too old to remain in detention camps that held families of Islamic State suspects. The siege of the Ghweran prison in Hasaka demonstrated that the Islamic State still had the ability to mount a coordinated military operation, despite its territorial defeat by the United States and international forces three years ago. At its peak, the jihadi group held territory the size of Britain straddling Iraq and Syria. The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazlum Kobani, said the Islamic State had mobilized sleeper cells and used suicide bombers to organize the breakout. The SDF has complained for years that it lacked the ability to securely operate the prison, where Islamic State fighters were detained after they were vanquished from the battlefield in southeastern Syria three years ago. The prisoners hail from dozens of countries, most of which have refused to take them back.

Syrian-Kurdish forces retake part of prison held by ISIS

Syria has been witnessing fierce fighting between the so-called Islamic state fighters and the Kurdish forces; this after the ISIS attacked a prison that was holding several of these terrorists. According to reports, at least 135 people have been killed so far in the fighting this includes about 84 ISIS terrorists in about 45 Kurdish fighters and 7 innocent civilians.

Syria prison attack: Fighting continues between ISIS, Kurdish forces

For a third consecutive day, fighting raged between the Islamic State and Kurdish forces in Syria. This was after IS attacked a prison housing jihadists. As per reports, so far 70 people have been killed in the fighting.

Reports: 70 people killed in Syria as fighting continues to rage between the IS & Kurdish forces

The revival of the Islamic State is knocking at West Asia's doors as two attacks took place, one at a high profile prison in Syria and the other at a military base near Iraq. Now, a car bomb went off outside the prison, shortly after which gunmen clashed with security forces. This led to the killings of at least 40 Kurdish security forces and five civilians.

ISIS resurgence further destabilise West Asia with 40 Kurdish security officers killed in attacks

An unidentified man in Texas had taken hostage four people at a synagogue, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, dubbed as the “Lady Qaeda”, who is currently lodged in US jail.

After a 10-hour stand-off, all the people were freed unharmed and the gunman was killed, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said at a news conference.

The FBI said they have confirmed the identity of the gunman but had not yet disclosed it.

During the stand-off, the man claimed to be Siddiqui’s brother, which was later found to be false.

Even though the FBI declined to confirm the cause of his death, saying it was still under investigation, the relationship between the attacker and Aafia Siddiqui is yet to be ascertained.

Who is Aafia Siddiqui?

Siddiqui is a Pakistani neuroscientist who studied in the United States at prestigious institutions — Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She lived in the United States from roughly 1991 to June 2002.

After the 9/11 terror attacks of 2001, she was said to be radicalised came and subsequently, came under the FBI’s radar for making donations to Islamic organisations and was also linked to the purchase of $10,000 worth of night-vision goggles and books on warfare.

The US suspected she joined Al-Qaeda from America, returning to Pakistan where she married into the family of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed —an architect of the 9/11 attacks.

Siddiqui then disappeared around 2003, along with her three children, in Karachi.

She resurfaced five years later in Afghanistan where she was arrested on the suspicion of trying to attack the governor of Afghanistan's Ghazni province.

When she was captured, Siddiqui was carrying notes detailing a “mass casualty attack” on New York City sites, including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge, according to prosecutors and&nbsp;court&nbsp;records.&nbsp;

When she was brought for interrogation, Siddiqui grabbed the M-4 military rifle of a chief warrant officer and opened fire, wounding few members of US special forces unit.

Subsequently, Siddiqui was detained and flown to the United States.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hostage-crisis-at-us-synagogue-ends-everyone-out-alive-safe-445112">Hostage crisis at US synagogue ends: Everyone out alive, safe</a>

On February 3, 2010, a federal jury found her guilty of all counts related to the attack, including attempting to kill U.S. nationals outside the United States; attempting to kill U.S. officers and employees; and armed assault of US officers and employees.

Who else is seeking her release?

For long, her release has been sought by militant Islamists, including ISIS, and even many US Muslim groups who have said that she is innocent and should be freed.

Al-Qaeda had even called on Muslims to “avenge” the decision to jail her.

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst, tweeted, “Siddiqui isn’t well known in the US, but in Pakistan, she's a big name —many view her as an innocent victim.”

During his election campaign, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, an open critic of the US-led “war on terror”, vowed to get her released.

In a previous article, he described her as a cause celebre among terrorists, and said she was viewed as a "powerful symbol of how poorly Americans treat innocent Muslims in the global campaign against terror".

What’s the latest on Siddiqui’s imprisonment?

Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence, is being held at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

She was attacked in July by another inmate at the facility and suffered serious injuries, according to court documents.

A lawyer representing Siddiqui, Marwa Elbially, told CNN in a statement the man was not Siddiqui’s brother. He implored the man to release the hostages, saying Siddiqui’s family condemned his “heinous” actions.

(With inputs from agencies)

An unidentified man in Texas had taken hostage four people at a synagogue, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, dubbed as the “Lady Qaeda”, who is currently lodged in US jail.

An unidentified man in Texas had taken hostage four people at a synagogue, demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, dubbed as the “Lady Qaeda”, who is currently lodged in US jail. After a 10-hour stand-off, all the people were freed unharmed and the gunman was killed, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said at a news conference. The FBI said they have confirmed the identity of the gunman but had not yet disclosed it. During the stand-off, the man claimed to be Siddiqui’s brother, which was later found to be false. Even though the FBI declined to confirm the cause of his death, saying it was still under investigation, the relationship between the attacker and Aafia Siddiqui is yet to be ascertained. Who is Aafia Siddiqui? Siddiqui is a Pakistani neuroscientist who studied in the United States at prestigious institutions — Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She lived in the United States from roughly 1991 to June 2002. After the 9/11 terror attacks of 2001, she was said to be radicalised came and subsequently, came under the FBI’s radar for making donations to Islamic organisations and was also linked to the purchase of $10,000 worth of night-vision goggles and books on warfare. The US suspected she joined Al-Qaeda from America, returning to Pakistan where she married into the family of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed —an architect of the 9/11 attacks. Siddiqui then disappeared around 2003, along with her three children, in Karachi. She resurfaced five years later in Afghanistan where she was arrested on the suspicion of trying to attack the governor of Afghanistan's Ghazni province. When she was captured, Siddiqui was carrying notes detailing a “mass casualty attack” on New York City sites, including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge, according to prosecutors and court records. When she was brought for interrogation, Siddiqui grabbed the M-4 military rifle of a chief warrant officer and opened fire, wounding few members of US special forces unit. Subsequently, Siddiqui was detained and flown to the United States. Also read | Hostage crisis at US synagogue ends: Everyone out alive, safe On February 3, 2010, a federal jury found her guilty of all counts related to the attack, including attempting to kill U.S. nationals outside the United States; attempting to kill U.S. officers and employees; and armed assault of US officers and employees. Who else is seeking her release? For long, her release has been sought by militant Islamists, including ISIS, and even many US Muslim groups who have said that she is innocent and should be freed. Al-Qaeda had even called on Muslims to “avenge” the decision to jail her. Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst, tweeted, “Siddiqui isn’t well known in the US, but in Pakistan, she's a big name —many view her as an innocent victim.” During his election campaign, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, an open critic of the US-led “war on terror”, vowed to get her released. In a previous article, he described her as a cause celebre among terrorists, and said she was viewed as a "powerful symbol of how poorly Americans treat innocent Muslims in the global campaign against terror". What’s the latest on Siddiqui’s imprisonment? Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence, is being held at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas. She was attacked in July by another inmate at the facility and suffered serious injuries, according to court documents. A lawyer representing Siddiqui, Marwa Elbially, told CNN in a statement the man was not Siddiqui’s brother. He implored the man to release the hostages, saying Siddiqui’s family condemned his “heinous” actions. (With inputs from agencies)

Who is Aafia Siddiqui, the Pak prisoner at the centre of Texas hostage situation?

A blast took place at a mosque in Spin Ghar area in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

Reports said the blast occurred during Friday prayers. At least three people were killed and 20 reportedly injured in the blast.

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A Blast has been reported in a Mosque in Spin Ghar area of Nangarhar per Local media reports. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a>
— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnasMallick/status/1459092442272178179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The imam of the mosque was also reportedly injured in the blast.

Local media reports say the death toll is likely to rise.&nbsp;The explosives were reportedly planted inside the mosque. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.&nbsp;The area located in Afghanistan's eastern province borders Pakistan.

The blast was confirmed by Taliban officials as reports claimed the bomb was hidden inside a&nbsp;loudspeaker.&nbsp;

(With inputs from Agencies)

A blast took place at a mosque in Spin Ghar area in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Reports said the blast occurred during Friday prayers. At least three people were killed and 20 reportedly injured in the blast.

A blast took place at a mosque in Spin Ghar area in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Reports said the blast occurred during Friday prayers. At least three people were killed and 20 reportedly injured in the blast. A Blast has been reported in a Mosque in Spin Ghar area of Nangarhar per Local media reports. #Afghanistan — Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) November 12, 2021 × The imam of the mosque was also reportedly injured in the blast. Local media reports say the death toll is likely to rise. The explosives were reportedly planted inside the mosque. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far. The area located in Afghanistan's eastern province borders Pakistan. The blast was confirmed by Taliban officials as reports claimed the bomb was hidden inside a loudspeaker. (With inputs from Agencies)

Blast at mosque in Afghanistan; 3 killed, at least 20 injured

Potential Al Qaeda and with the Taliban steamrolling across Afghanistan resurgence in Afghanistan raise concern among U.S. officials.

United States: Worried About Increase in Attacks by ISIS-K in Afghanistan

Aref Mohammad’s war against the Islamic State group ended earlier this fall when his unit of Taliban fighters was ambushed by the terrorist group in eastern Afghanistan. A bullet shattered his femur, leaving him disabled and barely able to walk, never mind fight.

But for the Taliban movement he served under, now the government of Afghanistan, the war against the Islamic State was just beginning.

“If we knew where they were from, we would pursue them and destroy them,” Mohammed, 19, said from his hospital bed in Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province where the Islamic State has maintained a presence since 2015.

In the two months since the Taliban took control of the country, the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan — known as Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K — has stepped up attacks across the country, straining the new and untested government and raising alarm bells in the West about the potential resurgence of a group that could eventually pose an international threat.

The attacks have been aimed mostly at Taliban units like Mohammad’s and at Afghanistan’s Shiite minorities. Suicide bombings in Kabul, the capital, and in important cities including Kunduz in the north and Kandahar in the Taliban’s southern heartland have killed at least 90 people and wounded hundreds of others in the span of just several weeks. And Tuesday, Islamic State fighters carried out a coordinated attack with gunmen and at least one suicide bomber on an important military hospital in the capital, killing at least 25 people.

This has placed the Taliban in a precarious position: After spending 20 years fighting as an insurgency, the group finds itself wrestling with providing security and delivering on its hallmark commitment of law and order. This has proved especially challenging for the Taliban as they try to defend themselves and civilians in crowded cities against almost daily attacks with an army that was trained for rural guerrilla warfare.

The surge in attacks has fueled growing unease among Western officials, with some predicting that the Islamic State — often considered a regional threat — could gain the capability to strike international targets in a matter of six to 12 months.

Colin Kahl, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, told lawmakers last week that the Taliban’s ability to pursue the group “is to be determined.”

Kahl’s sentiments underline the core concern of Western intelligence communities: There is little way to measure the Taliban’s effectiveness against ISIS-K. There is no longer reliable access to intelligence, as limited drone flights provide piecemeal information given the distance they have to fly just to get to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials, and the established network of informants has collapsed.

The Taliban, who have refused to cooperate with the United States in countering the Islamic State, instead are fighting the war on their own terms, with tactics and strategies that look far more localized than a government campaign against a terrorist organization.

“The Taliban became accustomed to fighting as insurgents, relying on a range of asymmetric attacks to target Afghan and U.S. forces,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. “But it seems clear that the Taliban has not given much thought at all to how the equation changes as a counterinsurgent, which is effectively the role they are playing now against the Islamic State.”

But where the Taliban have changed their strategy to fight against the Islamic State — once working together with the Americans and the former government to contain the terrorist group in the east — is on the diplomatic stage.

As the Taliban seek international recognition, the group has used the resurgence of the terrorist group as a bargaining chip for more financial aid, according to Qatari officials, reminding other countries that a powerful Islamic State poses a threat to them as well.

Recognizing the potential threat along its shared border with Afghanistan, Pakistan is feeding some intelligence to the Taliban about the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials.

Basir, the head of the Taliban’s intelligence arm in Jalalabad who goes by one name, is one of the group’s leaders adapting to fighting a war he was once on the other side of as a Taliban insurgent. He is now responsible for defending and securing a city of several hundred thousand people.

In the last several years, Jalalabad has been an easy target for the Islamic State, which has dispatched cells of fighters into the city from surrounding districts, carrying out assassinations and bombings at will.

But the group has taken advantage of the weeks during which the new government was coming together and has drastically widened its reach.

Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 28, the Islamic State has carried out at least 54 attacks in Afghanistan — including suicide bombings, assassinations and ambushes on security checkpoints, according to an analysis by ExTrac, a private firm that monitors militant violence in conflict zones. It amounts to one of the most active and deadly periods for the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Most of those attacks have targeted Taliban security forces — a marked shift from the first seven months of the year, when the Islamic State primarily targeted civilians, including activists and journalists.

In countering the Islamic State, Basir said his men had adopted methods similar to the previous government, even relying on equipment used by the former intelligence service to intercept communications and radio traffic — tools gifted by the West over the last two decades in an effort to surveil the Taliban.

But he insisted that the Taliban have what the last government and Americans did not: the broad support of the local population, which has been a boon for the type of human intelligence capable of alerting authorities of attacks and fighter locations that had always been difficult to obtain in the past.

That level of trust and cooperation could wane, security analysts say, as there is increasing fear that the Taliban could use the ISIS-K threat as an excuse to carry out with impunity state-sponsored violence on certain segments of the population, such as members of the former government.

“There’s also a bit of a hubris and overconfidence because they think ISKP has such limited appeal in country — that, according to the Taliban, it is so beyond the pale that it will never have that widespread appeal, so they think they can afford to ignore the threat,” said Ibraheem Bahiss, an International Crisis Group consultant and an independent research analyst.

In 2015, the Islamic State in Khorasan was officially established in Afghanistan’s east by former members of the Pakistani Taliban. The group’s ideology took hold partly because many villages there are inhabited by Salafi Muslims, the same branch of Sunni Islam as the Islamic State. A minority among the Taliban, who mostly follow the Hanafi school, Salafi fighters were eager to join the new terrorist group.

The draw of young fighters to the Islamic State is especially pronounced in Jalalabad, where Salafi mosques have sprung up in growing numbers in recent years, providing ample recruiting grounds for the terrorist group.

The Taliban have made a show of openness to the Salafists, accepting a pledge of allegiance from some Salafi clerics earlier this month. But there is still widespread unease within their community, especially in Jalalabad.

At one Salafi religious school in the city, the Taliban cracked down on the ideology by forcing the school’s founder to flee. They have allowed boys to continue their Quranic studies but have banned Salafist works from the curriculum.

For Faraidoon Momand, a former member of the Afghan government and a local power broker in Jalalabad, the worsening economic situation in the country is also driving the Islamic State’s recruitment.

“In every society, if the economy is bad, people will do what they have to do to get by,” Momand said.

As dusk fell over Jalalabad on a recent day in October, a unit of Taliban fighters belonging to the intelligence agency rode through the streets in a modified Toyota pickup, a machine gun mounted in its bed, as the streets filled with commuters and evening shoppers.

The Talibs pulled up at key intersections and checkpoints, jumping out and assisting with the screening of cars and the ubiquitous yellow three-wheeled rickshaws that jostle and honk as they throng streets. They poked their heads in, shining flashlights inside, questioning passengers, and waved them on.

“We have a court for every criminal,” said Abdullah Ghorzang, a Taliban commander. “But there is no court for ISIS-K. They will be killed wherever they are arrested.”

Aref Mohammad’s war against the Islamic State group ended earlier this fall when his unit of Taliban fighters was ambushed by the terrorist group in eastern Afghanistan.

Aref Mohammad’s war against the Islamic State group ended earlier this fall when his unit of Taliban fighters was ambushed by the terrorist group in eastern Afghanistan. A bullet shattered his femur, leaving him disabled and barely able to walk, never mind fight. But for the Taliban movement he served under, now the government of Afghanistan, the war against the Islamic State was just beginning. “If we knew where they were from, we would pursue them and destroy them,” Mohammed, 19, said from his hospital bed in Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province where the Islamic State has maintained a presence since 2015. In the two months since the Taliban took control of the country, the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan — known as Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K — has stepped up attacks across the country, straining the new and untested government and raising alarm bells in the West about the potential resurgence of a group that could eventually pose an international threat. The attacks have been aimed mostly at Taliban units like Mohammad’s and at Afghanistan’s Shiite minorities. Suicide bombings in Kabul, the capital, and in important cities including Kunduz in the north and Kandahar in the Taliban’s southern heartland have killed at least 90 people and wounded hundreds of others in the span of just several weeks. And Tuesday, Islamic State fighters carried out a coordinated attack with gunmen and at least one suicide bomber on an important military hospital in the capital, killing at least 25 people. This has placed the Taliban in a precarious position: After spending 20 years fighting as an insurgency, the group finds itself wrestling with providing security and delivering on its hallmark commitment of law and order. This has proved especially challenging for the Taliban as they try to defend themselves and civilians in crowded cities against almost daily attacks with an army that was trained for rural guerrilla warfare. The surge in attacks has fueled growing unease among Western officials, with some predicting that the Islamic State — often considered a regional threat — could gain the capability to strike international targets in a matter of six to 12 months. Colin Kahl, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, told lawmakers last week that the Taliban’s ability to pursue the group “is to be determined.” Kahl’s sentiments underline the core concern of Western intelligence communities: There is little way to measure the Taliban’s effectiveness against ISIS-K. There is no longer reliable access to intelligence, as limited drone flights provide piecemeal information given the distance they have to fly just to get to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials, and the established network of informants has collapsed. The Taliban, who have refused to cooperate with the United States in countering the Islamic State, instead are fighting the war on their own terms, with tactics and strategies that look far more localized than a government campaign against a terrorist organization. “The Taliban became accustomed to fighting as insurgents, relying on a range of asymmetric attacks to target Afghan and U.S. forces,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. “But it seems clear that the Taliban has not given much thought at all to how the equation changes as a counterinsurgent, which is effectively the role they are playing now against the Islamic State.” But where the Taliban have changed their strategy to fight against the Islamic State — once working together with the Americans and the former government to contain the terrorist group in the east — is on the diplomatic stage. As the Taliban seek international recognition, the group has used the resurgence of the terrorist group as a bargaining chip for more financial aid, according to Qatari officials, reminding other countries that a powerful Islamic State poses a threat to them as well. Recognizing the potential threat along its shared border with Afghanistan, Pakistan is feeding some intelligence to the Taliban about the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. Basir, the head of the Taliban’s intelligence arm in Jalalabad who goes by one name, is one of the group’s leaders adapting to fighting a war he was once on the other side of as a Taliban insurgent. He is now responsible for defending and securing a city of several hundred thousand people. In the last several years, Jalalabad has been an easy target for the Islamic State, which has dispatched cells of fighters into the city from surrounding districts, carrying out assassinations and bombings at will. But the group has taken advantage of the weeks during which the new government was coming together and has drastically widened its reach. Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 28, the Islamic State has carried out at least 54 attacks in Afghanistan — including suicide bombings, assassinations and ambushes on security checkpoints, according to an analysis by ExTrac, a private firm that monitors militant violence in conflict zones. It amounts to one of the most active and deadly periods for the Islamic State in Afghanistan. Most of those attacks have targeted Taliban security forces — a marked shift from the first seven months of the year, when the Islamic State primarily targeted civilians, including activists and journalists. In countering the Islamic State, Basir said his men had adopted methods similar to the previous government, even relying on equipment used by the former intelligence service to intercept communications and radio traffic — tools gifted by the West over the last two decades in an effort to surveil the Taliban. But he insisted that the Taliban have what the last government and Americans did not: the broad support of the local population, which has been a boon for the type of human intelligence capable of alerting authorities of attacks and fighter locations that had always been difficult to obtain in the past. That level of trust and cooperation could wane, security analysts say, as there is increasing fear that the Taliban could use the ISIS-K threat as an excuse to carry out with impunity state-sponsored violence on certain segments of the population, such as members of the former government. “There’s also a bit of a hubris and overconfidence because they think ISKP has such limited appeal in country — that, according to the Taliban, it is so beyond the pale that it will never have that widespread appeal, so they think they can afford to ignore the threat,” said Ibraheem Bahiss, an International Crisis Group consultant and an independent research analyst. In 2015, the Islamic State in Khorasan was officially established in Afghanistan’s east by former members of the Pakistani Taliban. The group’s ideology took hold partly because many villages there are inhabited by Salafi Muslims, the same branch of Sunni Islam as the Islamic State. A minority among the Taliban, who mostly follow the Hanafi school, Salafi fighters were eager to join the new terrorist group. The draw of young fighters to the Islamic State is especially pronounced in Jalalabad, where Salafi mosques have sprung up in growing numbers in recent years, providing ample recruiting grounds for the terrorist group. The Taliban have made a show of openness to the Salafists, accepting a pledge of allegiance from some Salafi clerics earlier this month. But there is still widespread unease within their community, especially in Jalalabad. At one Salafi religious school in the city, the Taliban cracked down on the ideology by forcing the school’s founder to flee. They have allowed boys to continue their Quranic studies but have banned Salafist works from the curriculum. For Faraidoon Momand, a former member of the Afghan government and a local power broker in Jalalabad, the worsening economic situation in the country is also driving the Islamic State’s recruitment. “In every society, if the economy is bad, people will do what they have to do to get by,” Momand said. As dusk fell over Jalalabad on a recent day in October, a unit of Taliban fighters belonging to the intelligence agency rode through the streets in a modified Toyota pickup, a machine gun mounted in its bed, as the streets filled with commuters and evening shoppers. The Talibs pulled up at key intersections and checkpoints, jumping out and assisting with the screening of cars and the ubiquitous yellow three-wheeled rickshaws that jostle and honk as they throng streets. They poked their heads in, shining flashlights inside, questioning passengers, and waved them on. “We have a court for every criminal,” said Abdullah Ghorzang, a Taliban commander. “But there is no court for ISIS-K. They will be killed wherever they are arrested.”

ISIS poses a growing threat to new Taliban government in Afghanistan

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there have been numerous attacks against civilians and particularly against Taliban members.

Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, a key Taliban member is among those killed in Tuesday's Kabul military hospital attack. The ISIS group has claimed that 40 people have been killed in the attack however, Taliban said that only 5 people have been killed.

Key Taliban leader killed in Afghanistan military hospital attack

The Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's hospital attack in Afghanistan's Kabul. According to reports, a key Taliban member Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis has been killed in the attack. WION's Anas Mallick brings in all the latest developments.

Kabul military hospital attack | Commander of Taliban's Badri brigade killed by ISIS-K

The Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's hospital attack in Afghanistan's Kabul. According to reports, a key Taliban member Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis has been killed in the attack.

ISIS-K claims responsibility for Kabul military hospital attack that killed top Taliban leader

Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, a key Taliban member is among those killed in Tuesday's Kabul military hospital, reports said.&nbsp;

Mukhlis was the head of Kabul's military corps and also one of the first senior Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned presidential palace when the city fell to the group in August.&nbsp;

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Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, the Taliban commander who was among the First ones to enter the Afghan Presidential Palace on 15th August when the Taliban took charge of Kabul, is among those who have been killed in the attack at the military hospital today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a>
— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnasMallick/status/1455558474629361669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
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According to reports, at least 19 people were killed and another 50 were wounded in the attack on a military hospital in Kabul.&nbsp;

Tuesday's attack was the latest assault in a series of assaults to rock Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.&nbsp;The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near the entrance of the sprawling site. Following this, gunmen broke into the hospital grounds, firing their weapons there.

Although no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is suspected that the Islamic State is behind the attack on the 400-bed hospital, as the operation was typical of the complex attacks mounted by ISIS.&nbsp;

The plot to attack the hospital in Kabul's 15th district was foiled and four of the attackers were killed.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/19-dead-in-attack-on-kabul-military-hospital-gunmen-killed-says-taliban-426066">19 dead in attack on Kabul military hospital; gunmen killed, says Taliban</a>

Assailants at the hospital aimed to attack civilians, doctors, and patients, but the Islamic Emirate's vigilante forces targeted and knocked them off their feet before they reached their target, says the Taliban.&nbsp;

Reportedly the attack on the hospital was contained within 15 minutes, with the attackers killed at the hospital's entrance and courtyard.

Although no one was injured inside the hospital, two women, one child, two Mujahideen and four others were martyred outside.

In light of the recent attacks, concerns have grown outside Afghanistan about the country becoming a haven for militant groups, as it was when an al Qaeda terrorist group attacked the United States in 2001.

Watch |&nbsp;Afghanistan: Two blasts hit Kabul's military hospital, all four attackers killed

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/afghanistan-two-blasts-hit-kabuls-military-hospital-all-four-attackers-killed-426194/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), along with countries including Pakistan, condemned the attack.

"Attacks targeting medical personnel and civilians seeking treatment are violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Those responsible need to be held to account," UNAMA said in a tweet.

The concern has been worsened by a spiralling economic crisis that has threatened millions with poverty as winter approaches and left thousands of former fighters with no employment.

The abrupt withdrawal of international support following the Taliban victory has brought Afghanistan`s fragile economy to the brink of collapse just as a severe drought has threatened millions with hunger.

(With inputs from agencies)

Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, a key Taliban member is among those killed in Tuesday's Kabul military hospital, reports said. Mukhlis was the head of Kabul's military corps and also one of the first senior Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned presidential palace when the city fell to the group in August.

Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, a key Taliban member is among those killed in Tuesday's Kabul military hospital, reports said. Mukhlis was the head of Kabul's military corps and also one of the first senior Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned presidential palace when the city fell to the group in August. Maulvi Hamdullah Mukhlis, the Taliban commander who was among the First ones to enter the Afghan Presidential Palace on 15th August when the Taliban took charge of Kabul, is among those who have been killed in the attack at the military hospital today. #Afghanistan — Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) November 2, 2021 × According to reports, at least 19 people were killed and another 50 were wounded in the attack on a military hospital in Kabul. Tuesday's attack was the latest assault in a series of assaults to rock Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power. The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near the entrance of the sprawling site. Following this, gunmen broke into the hospital grounds, firing their weapons there. Although no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is suspected that the Islamic State is behind the attack on the 400-bed hospital, as the operation was typical of the complex attacks mounted by ISIS. The plot to attack the hospital in Kabul's 15th district was foiled and four of the attackers were killed. Also read | 19 dead in attack on Kabul military hospital; gunmen killed, says Taliban Assailants at the hospital aimed to attack civilians, doctors, and patients, but the Islamic Emirate's vigilante forces targeted and knocked them off their feet before they reached their target, says the Taliban. Reportedly the attack on the hospital was contained within 15 minutes, with the attackers killed at the hospital's entrance and courtyard. Although no one was injured inside the hospital, two women, one child, two Mujahideen and four others were martyred outside. In light of the recent attacks, concerns have grown outside Afghanistan about the country becoming a haven for militant groups, as it was when an al Qaeda terrorist group attacked the United States in 2001. Watch | Afghanistan: Two blasts hit Kabul's military hospital, all four attackers killed The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), along with countries including Pakistan, condemned the attack. "Attacks targeting medical personnel and civilians seeking treatment are violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Those responsible need to be held to account," UNAMA said in a tweet. The concern has been worsened by a spiralling economic crisis that has threatened millions with poverty as winter approaches and left thousands of former fighters with no employment. The abrupt withdrawal of international support following the Taliban victory has brought Afghanistan`s fragile economy to the brink of collapse just as a severe drought has threatened millions with hunger. (With inputs from agencies)

Key Taliban member killed in Afghanistan military hospital attack

The Islamic State militant group said on Friday that it was responsible for an explosion that brought down electricity lines and caused a major power outage in Kabul province.

The power outage that took place on Thursday was another blow to Taliban's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan after they captured power in the month of August. Taliban who led the insurgency against US-supported governments for two decades are finding themselves at odds with Islamic State.

In a statement published on its Telegram channels, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) said "the soldiers of the caliphate detonated a bomb on an electricity pylon in Kabul" to damage the electricity sector.

The explosion that caused the power outage hit a high-voltage line that supplied power to Kabul and other provinces.

Afghanistan is heavily reliant on electricity produced in its northern neighbours Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This means that electricity has to be distributed in the country via long power lines that are often vulnerable to sabotage. Taliban itself used this tactic as it mounted insurgency against US-backed governments in Kabul.

The Taliban has promised to fight IS-K but the group has continued to carry out devastating atrocities.

Earlier this week, IS-K said it was behind a suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Kandahar on October 15 that killed 60 people.

The Islamic State militant group said on Friday that it was responsible for an explosion that brought down electricity lines and caused a major power outage in Kabul province.

The Islamic State militant group said on Friday that it was responsible for an explosion that brought down electricity lines and caused a major power outage in Kabul province. The power outage that took place on Thursday was another blow to Taliban's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan after they captured power in the month of August. Taliban who led the insurgency against US-supported governments for two decades are finding themselves at odds with Islamic State. In a statement published on its Telegram channels, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) said "the soldiers of the caliphate detonated a bomb on an electricity pylon in Kabul" to damage the electricity sector. The explosion that caused the power outage hit a high-voltage line that supplied power to Kabul and other provinces. Afghanistan is heavily reliant on electricity produced in its northern neighbours Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This means that electricity has to be distributed in the country via long power lines that are often vulnerable to sabotage. Taliban itself used this tactic as it mounted insurgency against US-backed governments in Kabul. The Taliban has promised to fight IS-K but the group has continued to carry out devastating atrocities. Earlier this week, IS-K said it was behind a suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Kandahar on October 15 that killed 60 people.

Islamic State claims responsibility for causing Kabul power outage

Does the ISIS-K have China on its hit list? Afghanistan suffered two suicide bombings this month. ISIS-K is said to be recruiting Uighur & Baloch fighters. Palki Sharma tells you why China could be a target for ISIS.

Gravitas: The Islamic State has China on its hit list

Of late, Sirajuddin&nbsp;Haqqani, the interior minister of the Taliban's interim government in Afghanistan, is being seen either with his face concealed or digitally blurred&nbsp;in public photographs.

Haqqani, a top leader of the&nbsp;Haqqani&nbsp;Network that has strong links with the Pakistani military, distributed 10,000 Afghanis (about $110) and clothes to the families of suicide attackers and promised them a plot of land during a meeting held at Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Monday. Photos posted on Twitter by pro-Taliban accounts showed the event was attended by hundreds of men. Haqqani himself was featured in several of the photos. However, his face was blurred or he was photographed from the rear.

This reportedly is being done to hide the traces of information on his whereabouts and activities, which poses a question: what is&nbsp;Haqqani afraid of?

Does the man who is in charge of the internal security of Afghanistan, and a designated terrorist behind the dreaded Haqqani Network, is afraid of US special forces or intelligence agencies?

Is every move of his being watched by US security establishment?

However, the likelihood of any of these outcomes is admittedly slim.

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The Interior Minister of the Taliban's interim government, Siraj Haqqani has been seen with face covered in public photographs. What is Haqqani afraid of? Is the US looking to capture or kill Haqqani?<a href="https://twitter.com/SaroyaHem?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SaroyaHem</a> tells you more 
 
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According to sources, the violent comeback of Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) in Afghanistan is the possible reason why the Haqqani Network’s chief is shunning from sharing pictures of his public appearances.

It is said that the rising targeted attacks and indiscriminate suicide bombings may cause a rift or establish factions among the Taliban, which might trigger exodus of its fighters to join the ISIS-K.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistan-haqqani-networks-anas-haqqani-says-india-is-not-a-true-friend-413565">Afghanistan: Haqqani network's Anas Haqqani says India is 'not a true friend'</a>

The militant group has been seeking to grow its influence in the restive region, posing a risk to the Taliban’s control.

The ISIS-K has upped the ante after the sudden withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The terrorist group has been carrying out indiscriminate suicide attacks across Afghanistan, targeting minorities.

On October 15, a group of suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in southern Afghanistan, triggering explosions that killed dozens of people during crowded Friday prayers.

According to the Associated Press, Hafiz Sayeed, the Taliban’s chief for Kandahar's department of culture and information, said 47 people had been killed and at least 70 wounded in the attack.

Also read |&nbsp;'<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/he-smashed-the-idol-of-somnath-taliban-leader-anas-haqqani-praises-mahmud-ghaznavi-418613">He smashed the idol of Somnath': Taliban leader Anas Haqqani praises Mahmud Ghaznavi</a>

The attack appeared to bear the hallmarks of last week's suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in northern Kunduz province that killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more — timed for maximum casualties during Friday prayers that typically attract the largest number of worshippers.

The earlier attack was claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, which views Shiite Muslims as apostates and opposes the Taliban regime.

While the Taliban have pledged to restore order in Afghanistan after decades of war, since they seized full control of the country in August, the ISIS affiliate has increased attacks in the country.

(With inputs from agencies)

Of late, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of the Taliban's interim government in Afghanistan, is being seen either with his face concealed or digitally blurred in public photographs.

Of late, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister of the Taliban's interim government in Afghanistan, is being seen either with his face concealed or digitally blurred in public photographs. Haqqani, a top leader of the Haqqani Network that has strong links with the Pakistani military, distributed 10,000 Afghanis (about $110) and clothes to the families of suicide attackers and promised them a plot of land during a meeting held at Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Monday. Photos posted on Twitter by pro-Taliban accounts showed the event was attended by hundreds of men. Haqqani himself was featured in several of the photos. However, his face was blurred or he was photographed from the rear. This reportedly is being done to hide the traces of information on his whereabouts and activities, which poses a question: what is Haqqani afraid of? Does the man who is in charge of the internal security of Afghanistan, and a designated terrorist behind the dreaded Haqqani Network, is afraid of US special forces or intelligence agencies? Is every move of his being watched by US security establishment? However, the likelihood of any of these outcomes is admittedly slim. The Interior Minister of the Taliban's interim government, Siraj Haqqani has been seen with face covered in public photographs. What is Haqqani afraid of? Is the US looking to capture or kill Haqqani?@SaroyaHem tells you more For more videos, visit: https://t.co/AXC5qRcEPB pic.twitter.com/5ZGerIOF5y — WION (@WIONews) October 20, 2021 × According to sources, the violent comeback of Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) in Afghanistan is the possible reason why the Haqqani Network’s chief is shunning from sharing pictures of his public appearances. It is said that the rising targeted attacks and indiscriminate suicide bombings may cause a rift or establish factions among the Taliban, which might trigger exodus of its fighters to join the ISIS-K. Also read | Afghanistan: Haqqani network's Anas Haqqani says India is 'not a true friend' The militant group has been seeking to grow its influence in the restive region, posing a risk to the Taliban’s control. The ISIS-K has upped the ante after the sudden withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The terrorist group has been carrying out indiscriminate suicide attacks across Afghanistan, targeting minorities. On October 15, a group of suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in southern Afghanistan, triggering explosions that killed dozens of people during crowded Friday prayers. According to the Associated Press, Hafiz Sayeed, the Taliban’s chief for Kandahar's department of culture and information, said 47 people had been killed and at least 70 wounded in the attack. Also read | 'He smashed the idol of Somnath': Taliban leader Anas Haqqani praises Mahmud Ghaznavi The attack appeared to bear the hallmarks of last week's suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in northern Kunduz province that killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more — timed for maximum casualties during Friday prayers that typically attract the largest number of worshippers. The earlier attack was claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, which views Shiite Muslims as apostates and opposes the Taliban regime. While the Taliban have pledged to restore order in Afghanistan after decades of war, since they seized full control of the country in August, the ISIS affiliate has increased attacks in the country. (With inputs from agencies)

Why is Taliban interior minister Haqqani's face being blurred in public photographs?

It has been two months since the Taliban took over Kabul but the recent attacks on the country have raised a series of questions regarding security. In the latest, Taliban sources are claiming that the ISIS-K shadow for Nangarhar has been captured alive. WION's Anas Mallick brings you more latest developments.

Afghanistan: Taliban launches offensive against the ISIS-K

The Taliban seems to have launched an offensive against the isis-k in different parts of the country. In the latest, the Taliban sources have claimed that ISIS-K's shadow governor for Nangarhar province is now in the custody of the Taliban.

Taliban launches offensive against the ISIS-K

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the deadly mosque attack in Afghanistan that killed dozens of people in a Shia mosque.

Islamic State group claims responsibility of mosque attack in Afghanistan

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