Who are ISIS-K?

They think the Taliban are too liberal, and just claimed another deadly terror attack in northern Afghanistan.  This is ISIS-K.

Transcript

00:00they're more violent, they're more bloody, they have fewer connections with wider Afghan society.

00:04You could say that they cater to Afghans who think the Taliban are too liberal.

00:31It's the same organization that was involved in taking large amounts of territory,

00:37beheading Americans and other foreigners in Iraq and Syria.

01:01ISIS had sent representatives to both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

01:05They were essentially able to co-opt some disaffected Pakistan Taliban

01:10and a few Afghan Taliban to join their cause.

01:30ISIS-K has carried out hundreds of attacks since its founding in Afghanistan

01:46and dozens of attacks just this year,

01:48a lot of them targeting Afghan parliamentary elections,

01:51and they've actively sought to undermine democratic processes.

01:55They've brutally targeted Shia groups whom they don't consider Muslims.

02:00ISIS-K is a sworn enemy of the Taliban,

02:11and they have a history of fighting one another.

02:14Some ISIS fighters are married to Taliban fighters or families and vice versa.

02:18So it is a much more murkier nexus than perhaps looking at it from a black and white perspective.

02:24Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead.

02:45He was the founder and leader of ISIS.

02:48We obliterated his caliphate 100%.

02:55It's been able to draw those recruits because it offers this more radical vision of global jihad,

03:01calling the Taliban moderate and accusing it of compromising with the West.

03:25Every day we have troops on the ground.

03:28These troops, innocent civilians at the airport,

03:31face the risk of attack from ISIS-K from a distance.

03:45It was clearly calculated to kill and maim as many people as possible,

03:49civilians, children, women, fathers, mothers,

03:52as well as Taliban and foreign forces protecting the airport.

03:56ISIS was poised to launch attacks specifically because two of its enemies are out of the picture.

04:02That is the Afghan security forces and, of course, the U.S. troops.

04:07It ends as it began with civilians bearing the brunt of it, as always.

04:22To ISIS-K, we are not done with you yet.