Taliban takes revenge on ISIS, kills leader of Khorasan branch

The Taliban has taken a serious step by fighting the ISIS Khorasan branch in Afghanistan to reduce the danger posed by the organization and limit its terrorist operations in the country. The Afghan movement killed the leader of the terrorist organization’s military wing, Qari Fateh, in a security operation it carried out on an ISIS hideout in the capital, Kabul, which observers consider to be one of the most important successful operations carried out by the Taliban against ISIS in order to preserve its gains and the stability of its rule.

Killing of Qari Fateh

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Taliban security forces killed the commander of the military wing of ISIS in Afghanistan. The statement, posted by Mujahid on Twitter, added that two ISIS members were eliminated in a night operation in Kabul, and Qari Fateh was one of those targeted in the operation.

During a separate operation in February, Taliban intelligence forces killed three ISIS members and arrested one in an operation in the eastern part of Kabul, and the movement claimed that ISIS was behind the recent organized attacks in the capital.

Qari Fateh was one of the leaders of ISIS Khorasan, where he held the position of warlord in Khorasan and leader of the eastern region. Before his death, he was a leader of the intelligence and operations apparatus in the terrorist organization, and he was considered the mastermind of the recent operations in Kabul, including the attacks on diplomatic missions and mosques in Kabul.

Significance

Regarding the significance of the killing of the leader of ISIS Khorasan’s military wing, Sabra al-Qasimi, an expert on terrorist movements, confirmed in exclusive statements to the Reference that the ISIS leader was one of the most important leaders of the terrorist organization, and the operation targeting him was one of the most important and successful operations carried out by the Taliban, with intelligence assistance and cooperation from the United States.

Qasimi believes that despite the importance of the strike and the importance of killing the warlord, the terrorist organization will continue to be strong in Khorasan and that the killing of Fateh does not affect the structure or military strength of ISIS Khorasan, pointing out that the organization differs from many organizations, as it does not depend on people or leaders, but rather depends on the continuity of ideas and beliefs.

“The successful operation carried out by the Taliban is important in terms of its seriousness in confronting the organization. A valuable catch like Qari Fateh will have its effects in the coming days with the organization’s retaliation, which some of the ISIS media committees hastened to announce, just as the conflict between the organization and the Taliban is an existential struggle, so the Afghan movement is taking the matter seriously and trying to eliminate the organization in order to preserve its gains and the stability of its rule,” Qasimi continued, noting that the organization does not accept negotiations, reconciliations, or alliances, but only accepts that it be in control, so the Taliban knows its danger and is trying to eliminate these existential risks, seeking not only to reduce the its danger, but rather to eliminate the organization.

Hesham al-Naggar, a researcher in the affairs of Islamist groups, confirmed that the killing of the commander of the ISIS Khorasan military wing in Afghanistan comes after the disputes between the Taliban’s wings became public, which reflected the volume of conflicts within the movement and the hypothesis of its most influential and extremist wing, the Haqqani Network, splitting from the movement. He noted in exclusive statements to the Reference that this wing is closely linked to all transborder terrorist organizations and there is field coordination between it and al-Qaeda, while international organizations have accused it of coordinating with ISIS.

Naggar pointed out that the past operations carried out by ISIS were orchestrated by the Haqqani Network, or at least under its auspices and supervision, to extort the international community on the one hand and put pressure on Hibatullah Akhundzada’s wing on the other. He stressed that the targeting of a senior leader in ISIS is mainly due to the raging disputes and internal conflicts between the Taliban's wings.