An US Air Force aircraft takes off from the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. - Rockets were fired at Kabul's airport on August 30 where US troops were racing to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuate allies under the threat of Islamic State group attacks. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP) By Kanishka Singh
The Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K https://reut.rs/3rwXcOK, is the regional Islamic State affiliate, which first appeared in 2014 and is named after an old term for the region. It has previously fought both the Western-backed government that fell in August and the Taliban.
In June 2020, Ghafari was appointed by the extremist group to lead ISIS-K. Ghafari was responsible for approving all ISIS-K operations throughout Afghanistan and arranging funding to conduct operations, the U.S. State Department said.
In November, the State Department designated Ghafari as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist".
The U.S. military said on Friday that a single Islamic State bomber https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/single-bomber-carried-out-kabul-airport-attack-us-military-says-2022-02-04 killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport last August.
The bombing occurred on Aug. 26 as U.S. troops were trying to help both Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban's takeover, and compounded America's sense of defeat after 20 years of war.
It also left President Joe Biden's administration struggling to answer accusations that the State Department could have evacuated Americans sooner instead of putting U.S. troops at risk.
U.S. officials said in November they believed ISIS-K could develop the ability to strike outside of Afghanistan within six to 12 months.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
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