Isis-K, what they want and what is the difference with Isis

Isisi-K was behind the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow on Friday 22 March.
The death toll would continue to rise.
According to the latest information, in fact, 145 people lost their lives in the terrorist attack and the subsequent fire in the theater and hundreds were injured.
In recent years, ISIS-K, a regional subgroup of Daesh, has been responsible for several attacks, including the one in 2021 at Kabul Afghanistan airport, following the capture of the capital by the Taliban.
As many as 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers were killed in that clash.
Just a few months ago, in January 2024, the terrorist cell was responsible for an attack near the tomb of General Qassem Suleimani in Kerman, Iran, where 84 people lost their lives.
In the last two years, however, ISIS-K has focused on Russia.
If we previously explained the differences between the Taliban and Isis, now it is appropriate to understand what Isis-K is, what it wants, what relations it has with Russia and why it attacked it.
Here's everything you need to know about it, read also What is the difference between Isis and Hamas? What is ISIS-K and how did it arise ISIS-K, also known as ISKP or ISK, is the acronym for Islamic State of Khorasan.
The K in the name actually stands for Khorasan, a province in eastern Afghanistan where the group has its headquarters.
Historically Khorasan included large areas of present-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia.
ISIS-K's goal is to establish the headquarters of the Islamic State's global Caliphate here.
ISIS-K is an offshoot of the Islamic State that adheres to jihadist ideology and follows an extreme interpretation of Islam that is anti-Western, promoting sectarian violence.
The group was founded in 2014 by several hundred Pakistani Taliban who found refuge just across the border in Afghanistan after fleeing some military offensives carried out by Pakistani security forces.
At that time the Islamic State was expanding into Syria and Iraq and the group decided to give allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, then leader of Deash.
Pakistani Hafiz Saeed Khan was chosen as the leader of the cell in Afghanistan.
In 2015-2016 it was already carrying out terrorist attacks against the US-led military in Afghanistan, minority groups and government institutions.
Since 2016 the formation has been shaky due to the anti-terrorist action of the United States.
Khan is killed in an airstrike in Nangarhar province, and all three of his successors are eliminated by the US in targeted strikes.
In 2018, however, ISIS-K became one of the top 4 deadliest terrorist organizations in the world according to the Institute for Economics and Peace's Global Terrorism Index.
Why ISIS-K attacked Moscow, relations with Russia The reasons for the attack on Moscow can be found in the tensions that have exploded in recent years.
It is no coincidence that, according to experts, Russia has been in the sights of the Islamic State for at least two years.
The Kremlin, in fact, is accused of having Muslim blood on its hands due to direct military interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and the war in Syria.
Conflicts with very different historical roots.
In 2015, Moscow and Tehran militarily supported the regime of President Bashar al Assad in Syria, to contain the attacks carried out by the Islamic State.
In fact, the civil war between the government and the opposition was soon punctuated by terrorist infiltrations of ISIS, whose defeat was attributed mainly to Moscow.
And among the jihadists there were also those from the Russian republics of the Caucasus.
Furthermore, as the writer and journalist Roberto Saviano recalled, ISIS-K has been supplying the Moscow drug cartel with heroin and hashish for years, and it is quite plausible that thanks to contacts with the drug cartel the terrorist cell succeeded to infiltrate Moscow.
In any case, we cannot ignore the timeliness of the terrorist attack in the aftermath of the new elections of President Vladimir Putin, who had reiterated that he was the only one capable of guaranteeing security in Russia.
In this case the attack should be read as an attempt to weaken the regime.
read also Why ISIS attacked Russia, the reasons for the attack in Moscow The relationship between ISIS-K and the Taliban Even in recent years in Afghanistan, after the military occupation from '79-'89, Russia has strengthened its ties with the Taliban government, which has held power in the country since 2021.
The Taliban and ISIS have long been rivals, and in the last three years ISIS-K has played a central role in this clash with violent attacks: the most striking was at Kabul airport, but there have been several.
ISIS-K and the Taliban are fighting each other.
The former sees the Afghan Taliban as its strategic rivals and considers them “dirty nationalists” with ambitions to form a government on Afghanistan's borders.
Then there is the question of Sharia, Islamic law in Afghanistan, and where it comes from.
interpreted.
For ISIS-K, the views of the Taliban are not rigid enough and they consider them apostates, bad Muslims, traitors to the jihad because of their willingness to negotiate agreements with the United States.
They never forgave him for the Doha agreements.
The differences between ISIS and ISIS-K There are no substantial differences between ISIS and IS-K.
As we have said, ISIS-K is the local branch of ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL and Daesh.
The ideology and methods to achieve its goals are the same.
The Khorasan group remains affiliated and ideologically aligned with IS and continues to receive support and guidance from senior IS leadership.