Brain Stormer: The Islamic State in Kabul

In the aftermath of the horrific attack on Hazara protesters in Kabul, the big question that everybody is asking is: Will this be the turning point for the Islamic State, which has officially taken responsibility for the bloodshed, in Afghanistan? There are a couple of points to be taken into consideration here. First, the attack was gruesome, even by the standards of a war-torn country.

In recent months, Afghanistan’s security situation has, no doubt, deteriorated with the Taliban especially making territorial gains. Even Kabul, which had otherwise been relatively peaceful, has seen a series of terror attacks which has left many deeply worried. Saturday’s attack needs to be viewed in this context – more than 80 people have been killed and 200 others injured. Since it happened at a large and peaceful protest rally, for which the Government had been preparing well in advance, the people are particularly angry with the authorities for failing on the security front.

That said, it is somewhat unfair to place the blame entirely at the Government’s doorstep – after all, no matter how good your intelligence is and how efficient your security personnel, how do you prevent three people from sneaking into a group of several hundred people? Coming back to analysing the Islamic State, this low-investment-high-impact model is something we need to keep in mind as we try to understand its scope of its presence in Afghanistan. Remember that in Afghanistan, the general understanding has been that those who claim to form the Islamic State are essentially just local militants who have shifted loyalties and are now flying a different banner.

They are competing with the Afghan Taliban which has been somewhat bogged down by rivalries and succession battles within the outfit. In the battle for terror-influence, the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan is obviously using its new-found currency in the world to bring in more recruits. And what better way to make a splash than spill a whole lot of blood, and that too Shia Hazara blood that is considered un-Islamic by the Sunni terror group?