Britain takes aim at ISK terrorists as group behind Moscow massacre sets sights on Europe – World News

The jihadists behind the Moscow massacre have Britain and other European countries in their sights.

The Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK) has a multi-million pound military, up to 6,000 fighters and unrestricted access to weapons. Hundreds of people have been massacred across Asia since 2021, including at least 143 at a rock concert in Russia 10 days ago. Now experts are warning they are planning atrocities across the Western world.

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “ISK is undoubtedly one of the most serious terrorist threats around the world today. They have grown in size and reputation in Afghanistan’s safe haven. We have allowed it to happen, and we also allowed it to happen when our troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

“It means they have scope to plan operations overseas, just as al-Qaeda did before the 9/11 attacks. We are definitely a target of the ISK because we are an ally of the US. “The Islamic State branch was founded in 2015 by former Taliban members who felt their organization was not radical enough.

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This name refers to an ancient region called Khorasan that covers parts of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. Its leader is a mysterious extremist known for the cunning, planning, and ruthless execution of his attacks. Sanaullah Ghafari, just 29 years old, has overseen the growth of the deadliest ISIS branch capable of launching attacks from Afghanistan.

He was said to have been killed last year before fleeing wounded and fleeing to Pakistan’s lawless border region of Balochistan. Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Mujahir, graduated from Kabul University with a degree in engineering and became ISK’s “head” in 2020. Under his leadership, the ISK has been at war with the Taliban, whom the ISK has accused of abandoning jihad in favor of a negotiated peace. With the United States.

A bombing in Kabul in 2022 is thought to have killed 120 people and injured nearly 1,000 Afghans. The previous year, an ISK suicide bomber killed 170 locals and 13 US soldiers at the airport as the US and UK withdrew from Afghanistan. The United Nations warned that “ISK has become more sophisticated in its attacks against both Taliban and international targets.”

With each attack, they attracted the attention of fanatics and grew, allowing them to raise more money and recruit more infantry, including defectors from the Taliban. Islamic State, which adheres to an extreme version of Sunni Islam, also targets Muslim Iran because most of the population is considered heretics who follow the rival Shiite sect.

In January, two ISK suicide bombers killed nearly 100 people and injured nearly 300 at a memorial to Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian supreme commander who was assassinated by a U.S. drone four years ago.

ISK finances its operations through heroin trafficking, smuggling, extortion, theft, kidnapping, and general extortion. Intelligence experts say both the Moscow and Iranian attacks demonstrate the group’s ability to carry out long-range missions. “Central Asian jihadist networks in Afghanistan pose a global security threat,” said former FBI Director Ali Soufan.

He said analysts had been warning of the risks “since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.” France and Italy quickly stepped up their terrorist alerts immediately after the Moscow attack, following information from spies. “ISK is growing in size and numbers,” said international security expert Bruce Jones. That means more funding and more recruits.”

Jones argues that hostilities between NATO and Russia over Ukraine are putting Western countries at risk from terrorist attacks. In the past, it was common for countries such as Russia and the UK to share intelligence because they had a common enemy: armed groups. In 2004, a small British special forces team is believed to have traveled to Russia to offer advice during the Beslan school siege in which Chechen terrorists took more than 1,000 hostages and killed 330 people. There is. Such cooperation is now a thing of the past.

ISK’s latest attack on Moscow’s Crocus music venue, almost certainly carried out by four gunmen hired by ISK for £10,000 each, is Russia’s worst terrorist atrocity since Beslan and Europe’s worst. This is the worst death toll ever committed by Islamic State in the country. Days earlier, Moscow rejected advice from Britain, the United States and other countries that Islamic extremists were seeking to target large rallies and even concerts.

President Vladimir Putin dismissed the warning as “blatant blackmail and an attempt to intimidate and destabilize our society.” Jones added: “Russia is isolated from the West and intelligence sharing is currently minimal. It leads to increased secrecy for terrorist groups, making it easier for them to plan successful attacks. Funding comes from heroin trafficking, smuggling, extortion, theft, kidnapping, and general extortion. It is estimated that much of Afghanistan’s drug trade has been hijacked by the broader Islamic State movement.

U.S. security analysts at the respected Sudan Center, run by former FBI official Ali Soufan, said last night that the Moscow attack “demonstrates Islamic State Khorasan Province’s (IS-K) ability and determination to carry out foreign operations.” “But it also shows the threat posed by jihadist networks.” In Central Asia, analysts and experts have warned of growing threats since the turbulent US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“Central Asian jihadist networks in Afghanistan pose a regional and global security threat. IS-K attempted several attacks in Europe last year, and in 2024, carried out a deadly terrorist attack targeting ”