Washington DC: The threat of the Islamic State (ISIS) do not seem to end with the wiping of the outfit from Syria and Iraq. Its offshoot the Islamic State – Khorasan (ISIS-K) which operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan is now the most feared branch of ISIS for the US.
Shockingly, the US National Counterterrorism Center revealed that the group attempted a suicide attack in India in 2018 but fortunately they could not accomplish its mission.
The Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Russel Travers said, “Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern, probably in the neighbourhood of 4,000 individuals or so. They have attempted to certainly inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan. They attempted last year to conduct a suicide attack in India. It failed.”
Russel Travers also revealed that the ISIS has 20 regional units across the world and some of the branches use drones for their operations.
The ISIS-K even tried to attack the New York a few years ago but the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) was able to thwarted the attack. However, the group succeeded at striking Stockholm that killed 5 persons.
US Senator Maggie Hassan said that ISIS-K not only threatens US forces in Afghanistan but also has designs to strike the US homeland.
With ISIS-K gaining strength in Afghanistan and Pakistan it could be not long when they might plan another attack against India.
ISIS-K formed in 2015 and is active in the border region of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Many Indians are said to have pledged their allegiance to the outfit.
