Updated January 31, 2020
Al Qaeda and Islamic State Affiliates in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s geography, complex ethnic makeup, and
differentiating between the two is difficult, but some key
recent history of conflict, instability, and decentralized
distinctions exist. Overall, AQIS represents an attempt by
government have created space for the activities of a
AQ to establish a more durable presence in the region by
number of regional armed groups. This product outlines
enhancing links with local actors. Former AQIS leader
major terrorist groups affiliated and allied with Al Qaeda
Asim Umar, who was killed in Helmand province in a joint
(AQ) and the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or
U.S.-Afghan operation in September 2019, was an Indian
by the Arabic acronym Da’esh) and the complex, often
national with deep roots in Pakistan; AQ leaders are
shifting relations between them and various other state and
predominantly Arab (Zawahiri, for example, is Egyptian).
non-state actors. These dynamics may inform assessments
The relocation of some AQ leaders to Syria further
of U.S. policy in Afghanistan in light of ongoing U.S.-
incentivized Al Qaeda to create a locally sustainable
Taliban negotiations focused largely on counterterrorism
affiliate in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
concerns. The Afghan Taliban is not a U.S.-designated
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), but it relates to the
While AQIS has reportedly attempted to solidify its
groups below in varying ways that may have ramifications
presence in Afghanistan by embedding fighters in the
for those negotiations.
Taliban, its operations have mostly been elsewhere: AQIS
has claimed a number of attacks in Pakistan and
Al Qaeda Core
Bangladesh, mostly against security targets and secular
The top echelon or “core” of AQ leadership remains a
activists, respectively. Additionally, the training camp
primary target of the U.S. in Afghanistan. Also known as
discovered in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province in 2015
Al Qaeda Central, the core is made up of AQ leader Ayman
was reportedly being used by AQIS. However, according to
al Zawahiri and his deputies, an advisory council of about
the November 2019 DOD report, DIA assessed that AQIS
ten individuals, and members of various AQ committees
would need “several years without sustained
such as military operations and finance. AQ leaders are
counterterrorism pressure…to develop the capability to
currently thought to be based in the mountainous, tribal-
attack outside South Asia.” AQIS has “several hundred
dominated areas of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, often
members” (per the State Department), and was designated
moving between the two countries. In September 2019, the
as an FTO in June 2016.
White House announced that Hamza bin Laden, son of AQ
founder Osama bin Laden and a rising leader in the group,
Provinces with Reported Presence of Terror Groups
had been killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation “in the
Afghanistan/Pakistan region.”
U.S. officials have maintained that AQ has a reduced
presence in Afghanistan, due in part to a number of U.S.
raids and airstrikes on AQ targets, including a large training
camp discovered in Kandahar province 2015. It is unclear
what threat AQ poses in light of this counterterrorism
pressure. A November 2019 Department of Defense (DOD)
report, citing the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),
estimated that there are 300 AQ members in Afghanistan
and that they are “almost certainly focused on survival.”
In January 2020, the U.N. reported that AQ “is concerned
about the current focus of the Taliban leadership on peace
talks,” but that AQ-Taliban relations “continue to be close
and mutually beneficial, with [AQ] supplying resources and
training in exchange for protection.” In talks with the
Taliban, the United States reportedly has pressed the group
Source: Graphic created by CRS using information from various
to disavow AQ, though it is unclear how open the Taliban
media and U.S. government reports, 2018-present.
might be to such a break and how it might be verified.
Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP)
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
The Islamic State officially announced the formation of its
In September 2014, Zawahiri announced the creation of a
Afghan affiliate in January 2015. ISKP (also known as IS-K
formal, separate Al Qaeda affiliate in South Asia, Al Qaeda
or ISIS-K) had been concentrated predominantly in eastern
in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Because of the relative
Afghanistan, particularly in Nangarhar province, which
geographical proximity of AQIS and the AQ core,
borders the region of Pakistan formerly known as the
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Al Qaeda and Islamic State Affiliates in Afghanistan
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). There, ISKP
release by the Government of Afghanistan of three high-
was mostly made up of former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
profile Taliban prisoners, including Sirajuddin’s brother
(TTP) militants who fled Pakistani army operations in the
Anas Haqqani. In 2012, the group kidnapped an American
FATA after mid-2014. In November 2019, a U.S.-
backpacker and her Canadian husband. That couple, and
supported Afghan government military campaign dislodged
their three children born in captivity, were freed by a
ISKP fighters from Nangarhar. These operations took place
Pakistani Army operation in October 2017.
concurrent with separate Taliban operations against ISKP.
ISKP has condemned the Taliban as “apostate,” accusing it
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
of having narrow tribal, ethnic, and/or national interests.
The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, conducts
most of its attacks within Pakistan (though much reduced in
ISKP also clashed with the Taliban in several largely
recent years), and reportedly maintains safe havens along
Turkic-populated northern provinces of Afghanistan as
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where AQ has also
well, highlighting ISKP’s potential reach in areas beyond
operated. An umbrella organization for a number of
the predominantly Pashtun-populated south and east.
Pakistan-based extremist groups that came into conflict
However, a series of defeats at the hands of Taliban fighters
with the Pakistani state after 2007, the TTP began to
in August 2018 reduced the ISKP presence in the area.
splinter following the 2013 death of leader Hakimullah
Despite these defeats in the north and east, U.S. officials
Mehsud. In 2014, some TTP members pledged allegiance to
caution that ISKP remains a threat, though there reportedly
IS and subsequently relocated to eastern Afghanistan as part
is disagreement within the U.S. government about its
of ISKP. Mehsud’s successor Mullah Fazlullah was killed
nature. Some raise the prospect of Taliban hardliners
by a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan’s Kunar province in
defecting to ISKP in the event of a settlement with the
June 2018. TTP leaders have pledged to strike within the
United States. Before recent setbacks, ISKP strength was
United States, though it is unclear whether TTP has such
estimated at 2,500 fighters
capacity: the last such incident for which they claimed
responsibility was a 2010 bombing attempt in New York
In addition to complex attacks against government targets,
City, carried out by a Pakistani-American who reportedly
ISKP has claimed numerous large scale bombings against
received training from TTP militants in the FATA.
civilians, particularly targeting members of Afghanistan’s
Shia minority (about 15% of the population). Sectarian
conflict has not been a hallmark of the war in Afghanistan,
“[T]he terrorist threat posed by the ability of
but ISKP attempts to encourage it, following the example of
international terrorist groups to operate in
the Islamic State elsewhere, could further destabilize the
Afghanistan remains significant.”
country. The Obama Administration designated ISKP as an
FTO in January 2016. ISKP leader Hafiz Saeed Khan, a
Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia
former TTP member, was killed in a U.S. strike in July
Alice Wells, September 19, 2019
2016; three successors have since been killed.
The Haqqani Network
Smaller Groups
The Haqqani Network is an official, semi-autonomous
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Designated an
component of the Afghan Taliban and an ally of AQ. It was
FTO in 2000, the IMU was once a prominent ally of AQ.
founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a leading member of the
Formed by Uzbeks who fought with Islamist forces in
anti-Soviet jihad (1979-1989) who became a prominent
Tajikistan’s 1990s civil war, the IMU allied with the
Taliban official and eventually a key leader in the post-
Taliban, and launched attacks into other Central Asian
2001 insurgency. The Taliban confirmed his death from
states. After the U.S. invasion in 2001, the group’s focus
natural causes in September 2018. The group’s current
was in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Former IMU leader
leader is Jalaluddin’s son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has also
Usman Ghazi pledged allegiance to IS in July 2015, but the
served as the deputy leader of the Taliban since 2015.
U.N. reported in January 2020 that IMU “has ultimately
Sirajuddin’s appointment to lead the network likely
lost its independent status and is now integrated into
strengthened cooperation between the Taliban and AQ, with
Taliban forces.”
which the Haqqanis have close ties going back to the anti-
Soviet jihad. The Haqqani Network was designated as an
Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). ETIM
FTO in September 2012 in part due to its close ties with Al
has advocated for the establishment of an independent
Qaeda, though the current relationship is less clear. Former
Islamic state for the Uyghurs, a Muslim-majority, Turkic-
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen
speaking people in western China. The U.S. government
described the Haqqanis in 2011 as a “veritable arm” of
designated ETIM as a terrorist organization under
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
Executive Order 13224 in 2002, citing the group’s ties to
AQ; it has launched airstrikes against EIM targets, most
The Haqqanis are blamed for some of the deadliest attacks
recently in February 2018 against camps in northern
of the war in Afghanistan. In 2012, then-Chair of the Senate
Afghanistan used by ETIM. However, the State
Select Committee on Intelligence Senator Dianne Feinstein
Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism for 2018
claimed the network was responsible for the death or injury
(released October 2019) says there is “a lack of independent
of over 1,300 U.S. troops. Additionally, the Haqqanis have
evidence that a group by that name [ETIM] is still active.”
held Americans captive, including a university professor
who was kidnapped in Kabul in 2016. He and an Australian
Clayton Thomas, Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs
captive were freed in November 2019 in exchange for the
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Al Qaeda and Islamic State Affiliates in Afghanistan
IF10604
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