After the dramatic news coming from Moscow shocked by a bloody attack claimed by the Islamic State, the United States recalled how at the beginning of March they had warned Russia of the risk of attacks by ISIS-K, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Also known as Wilayat Khorasan, the group is the Afghan branch of ISIS that first appeared in 2014. The name Khorasan translates to "The Land of the Sun," and according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, refers to a historical region that includes parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Based on this vision, the objective is to establish a new caliphate that brings together these three countries, but also some former Soviet republics, such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A clear threat for Russia, which does not forget the Islamist rebellions in the Northern Caucasus, in particular in Dagestan and Chechnya with the two wars of the 1990s and a long series of bloody attacks which massacred civilians in various Russian cities, including the capital.
Today Sanaullah Ghafari, alias Shahab al-Muhajir, is the leader of the group: according to the US State Department, the emir was appointed in June 2020. And under his leadership, like other terrorist groups, Isis-K takes targets US forces, their allies and civilians.
But unlike other organizations, Isis-K also fought openly against other extremist Islamic organizations, such as the Taliban - they are responsible for the suicide attack at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021. And it was ready to take action too against Jewish communities as revenge for Israeli operations in Gaza: just two weeks ago, Russian intelligence services claimed to have eliminated an ISIS cell that was planning an attack against a synagogue in Moscow.
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