According to U.S. and Afghan security officials, the Islamic State (ISIS) appears to have lost its stronghold in Iraq and Syria, but ISIS in the forbidding mountains of northeastern Afghanistan appears to be expanding its terroristic footprint by recruiting new fighters and plotting attacks on the United States as well as other Western nations.
The Associated Press reported that an American intelligence official based in Afghanistan said a recent wave of attacks in the capital, Kabul, are “practice runs” for even bigger attacks in Europe and the United States.
The Associated Press and Military.com reported:
Nearly two decades after the U.S.-led invasion, the extremist group is seen as an even greater threat than the Taliban because of its increasingly sophisticated military capabilities and its strategy of targeting civilians, both in Afghanistan and abroad. Concerns run so deep that many have come to see the Taliban, which has also clashed with ISIS, as a potential partner in containing it.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
“This group is the most near-term threat to our homelands from Afghanistan,” the official said on condition of anonymity to preserve his operational security. “The IS core mandate is: You will conduct external attacks” in the U.S. and Europe. “That is their goal. It’s just a matter of time,” he said. “It is very scary.”
Bruce Hoffman, director of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, sees Afghanistan as a possible new base for IS now that it has been driven from Iraq and Syria. “ISIS has invested a disproportionate amount of attention and resources in Afghanistan,” he said, pointing to “huge arms stockpiling” in the east.
Without an aggressive counter-terrorism strategy, Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate will be able to carry out a large-scale attack in the U.S. or Europe within the next year, the U.S. intelligence official said, adding that ISIS fighters captured in Afghanistan have been found to be in contact with fellow militants in other countries.
Authorities have also already made at least eight arrests in the United States linked to the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
Read more in-depth coverage here.
Related News:
- US Army War College Caves to CAIR
- Democrat Kamala Harris compares deployed military dads to illegals, accused criminals — On Father’s Day!
- Nottinghamshire UK: Pointless Knives Pilot Program to Stop Domestic Abuse
- ‘Chilling’: Captured ISIS fighter reveals border crossing scheme
- Videos: FBI discovers Islamist terror camp in Alabama with links to similar camp in New Mexico
If you haven’t checked out and liked our Facebook page, please go here and do so. You can also follow us on Twitter at @co_firing_line. Facebook is now doing everything it can to stifle conservative content, so please be sure to check out our MeWe page here, check us out at ProAmerica Only and the new social site, Hardcore Conservatives.
If you appreciate independent conservative reports like this, please go here and support us on Patreon and get your conservative pro-Trump gear here.
While you’re at it, be sure to check out our friends at Whatfinger News, the Internet’s conservative front-page founded by ex-military!
And be sure to check out our friends at Trending Views:
