Updated August 17, 2021
Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s geography, complex ethnic composition, and
monitors assessed that AQ and the Taliban “remain closely
history of conflict and instability have created space for
aligned and show no indication of breaking ties.” The
numerous armed Islamist groups, some of which have
Taliban reportedly issued orders in February 2021 barring
engaged in transnational terrorist activity. This product
their members from sheltering foreign fighters, but
outlines major terrorist groups active in Afghanistan that
otherwise do not appear to have taken tangible steps that
are affiliated and allied with Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic
might constitute a break in ties with Al Qaeda. AQ
State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or by the Arabic
sympathizers have celebrated the Taliban’s takeover and
acronym Da’esh), and relations between these groups and
the Taliban have reportedly freed prisoners, including AQ
other state and non-state actors, most notably the Taliban.
members.
The Taliban are not a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist
Organization (FTO). These dynamics may inform
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
assessments of U.S. policy in Afghanistan in light of the
In September 2014, Zawahiri announced the creation of a
Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of the country.
formal, separate Al Qaeda affiliate in South Asia, Al Qaeda
in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS, designated as an FTO in
In the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement, the Taliban
2016). Because of the relative geographical proximity of
had committed to undertake unspecified counterterrorism
AQIS and the AQ core, differentiating between the two is
efforts in return for the full withdrawal of U.S. and
difficult, but some key distinctions exist. Essentially, AQIS
international military forces, to be completed in August
represents an attempt by AQ to establish a more durable
2021. The Taliban interact with the groups below in varying
presence in the region by enhancing links with local actors,
ways that may affect U.S. interests. President Joseph Biden
prompted in part by the relocation of some AQ leaders to
and other U.S. officials have stated that the United States
will maintain “over
Syria. Former AQIS leader Asim Umar, who was being
-the-horizon” capabilities to address
“sheltered” by Taliban forces when he was killed in a joint
terrorist threats in Afghanistan after the U.S. military
U.S.-Afghan operation in Afghanistan in September 2019,
withdrawal. Observers differ on how Taliban rule might
was an Indian national with deep roots in Pakistan; AQ core
empower or undermine terrorist groups below or Taliban
leaders are predominantly Arab.
behavior toward them.
AQIS has reportedly solidified its presence in Afghanistan
Al Qaeda Core
by embedding fighters in the Taliban. According to the
The top echelon or “core” AQ leadership has been a
April 2021 DOD report, AQIS threatened U.S. forces in
primary U.S. target in Afghanistan since 2001. These
Afghanistan, a reflection of the group’s cooperation with
include AQ leader Ayman al Zawahiri (who reportedly is
the Taliban, but likely lacked the means to conduct attacks
ailing) and his deputies, an advisory council of about ten
outside the region.
individuals, and members of various AQ committees such
as military operations and finance. In September 2019, the
Provinces with Reported Presence of Terror Groups
White House announced that U.S. forces killed Hamza bin
Laden, son of AQ founder Osama bin Laden and a rising
leader in the group, “in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region.”
U.S. officials have argued that U.S. raids and airstrikes on
AQ targets, including a large training camp discovered in
Kandahar province in 2015, have reduced the AQ presence
in Afghanistan. An April 2021 report from the Department
of Defense (DOD) estimated that AQ core leaders in
Afghanistan “pose a limited threat” because they “focus
primarily on survival.”
The U.S.-Taliban agreement commits the Taliban to
preventing any group, including Al Qaeda, from using
Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States or
its allies. Taliban-AQ links date back to the 1990s, when
the Taliban were last in power and provided a crucial safe
haven to Al Qaeda as it planned the September 11, 2001,
and other terrorist attacks. Those ties have been reinforced
by their shared battle against international forces in
Source: Graphic created by CRS.
Afghanistan as well as through intermarriage and other
personal bonds between members of the two groups. In an
April 2021 report, United Nations (U.N.) sanctions
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Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan
Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP)
the Afghan Taliban against the Afghan government inside
The Islamic State announced the formation of its Afghan
Afghanistan (where the TTP has thousands of fighters). An
affiliate in January 2015. ISKP (also known as ISIS-K) was
umbrella organization for a number of Pakistan-based
once concentrated in eastern Afghanistan, particularly in
extremist groups that came into conflict with the
Nangarhar province, which borders the region of Pakistan,
government of Pakistan after 2007, the TTP began to
formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
splinter following the 2013 death of leader Hakimullah
(FATA). There, ISKP was mostly comprised of former
Mehsud. In 2014, some TTP members pledged allegiance to
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, see below) militants who
the Islamic State and subsequently relocated to eastern
fled Pakistani army operations in the FATA after mid-2014.
Afghanistan in response to Pakistani army operations that
mostly drove the group from its safe havens in the former
Arguably one of the Islamic State’s most successful
affiliates, ISKP was “nearly eradicated” from its main base
FATA. Continued military pressure (Mehsud’s successor
was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan’s Kunar
in eastern Afghanistan in late 2019 by U.S. and Afghan
province in 2018) greatly reduced the group’s activity in
military offensives and, separately, the Taliban. An ISKP
subsequent years. However, reunification between TTP and
contingent in northern Afghanistan was similarly defeated
some former splinter groups (possibly facilitated by AQ)
in 2018. These territorial losses have forced the group to
“decentralize” according to U.N. sanctions monitors, who
since 2020 has swelled the group’s ranks. The TTP may
benefit further from the Taliban takeover and release of
assess the group has around 2,000 fighters primarily in the
TTP prisoners in Afghanistan.
east but also in northern Afghanistan. A number of ISKP
leaders have been killed in U.S. strikes or captured by
“The Secretary certainly believes that in light of recent
Afghan forces since 2016. Still, U.S. officials have
events that a reassessment of the possibilities for
cautioned that ISKP remains a threat, and recent attacks
reconstruction of terrorist networks inside
attributed to the group indicate the same operational
Afghanistan is warranted, but we’re in no position at
resilience it has demonstrated when pressured in the past. In
this point just one day after the events in Kabul to
addition to attacks against government targets, ISKP has
affirm judgment either way or what that’s going to
claimed numerous large-scale bombings against civilians,
look like.”
mainly targeting Afghanistan’s Shia minority, including the
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby, August 16,
May 2021 bombing of a girls’ school in Kabul.
2021
ISKP and Taliban forces have sometimes fought over
control of territory or because of political or other
differences. Upon taking power, the Taliban reportedly
executed an imprisoned former ISKP leader in August
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Designated an
2021. Some have speculated that Taliban hardliners might
FTO in 2000, the IMU was once a prominent ally of AQ.
defect to ISKP if Taliban leaders compromise on certain
Formed by Uzbeks who fought with Islamist forces in
Tajikistan’s
issues as they begin governing.
1992-1997 civil war, the IMU allied with the
Taliban and launched attacks into other Central Asian
The Haqqani Network
states. After U.S. operations began in 2001, the group’s
The Haqqani Network is an official, semi-autonomous
focus was in Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.N. sanctions
component of the Afghan Taliban and an ally of AQ. It was
monitors report that the IMU is under the control of the
Taliban, which is “less accommodating than it used to be”
founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a leading anti-Soviet
Islamist commander who became a prominent Taliban
given previous IMU moves to align with ISKP. IMU forces
official and eventually a key leader in the post-2001
operate in northern Afghanistan.
insurgency. The Taliban confirmed his death from natural
Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). ETIM
causes in September 2018.
(also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party) seeks to
The group’s current leader is Jalaluddin’s son, Sirajuddin
establish an independent Islamic state for the Uyghurs, a
Haqqani, who has also served as the deputy leader of the
Muslim-majority, Turkic-speaking people in western China.
Taliban since 2015. Sirajuddin’s appointment to lead the
In 2002, the U.S. government designated ETIM as an FTO,
network likely strengthened cooperation between the
citing the group’s ties to AQ; in late 2020, it removed
Taliban and AQ; U.N. monitors describe the Haqqani
ETIM from another list, the Terrorist Exclusion List (to
Network as the “primary liaison” between the Taliban and
which the group had been added in 2004), stating that “for
AQ. The April 2021 U.N. report indicates disagreement
more than a decade, there has been no credible evidence
that ETIM continues to exist.”
among Member States about whether the Haqqani Network
U.N. sanctions monitors
collaborates tactically with ISKP.
reported in June 2021 that ETIM has hundreds of fighters in
northeast Afghanistan and a larger presence in Idlib, Syria,
The Haqqani Network is blamed for some of the deadliest
and moves fighters between the two areas. ETIM in
attacks of the war in Afghanistan, including the death or
Afghanistan is reportedly focused on China; the Syrian
injury of hundreds of U.S. troops, and has historically been
contingent has “a more global outlook,” according to U.N.
described as close to Pakistan’s intelligence agency.
sanctions monitors.
Smaller Groups
Clayton Thomas, Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP, also known
as the Pakistani Taliban, has “distinctive anti-Pakistan
IF10604
objectives,” per U.N. monitors, but also fought alongside
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Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan
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