The Security Challenges of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) to Afghanistan and the Region

Abstract

Afghanistan's name is associate with security challenges, civilian casualties, and non-ending war. The Taliban's fall brought about a promising future for the people, the hope which did not last long upon the return of militancy to Afghanistan. Since 2014, Afghanistan has faced several political developments with enormous consequences. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) was born by some Taliban members' alliance to a newly established caliphate, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq. IS-K is one of the most challenging Islamist groups, which was established in 2014 in Afghanistan. Among many other terrorist movements, this group’s widespread threats have been remarkable. For a student of security studies coming from a war-torn country, this topic turn double-fascinating. The weak government of Afghanistan, IS-K's resilience, and the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban form the hypotheses of this thesis. IS-K has taken huge academic attention from different perspectives and different aspects. Using secondary data, this thesis intends to study the relation between IS-K's evolution and Afghanistan's political developments within the time frame of 2014-2020. This thesis concludes that a combination of the several weak aspects of Afghanistan's government, IS-K's resilience, and peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban develop IS-K’s intention and capability to impose different levels of threats to Afghanistan and the region – South and Central Asia.