For the past 20 years, the Taliban had been considered as the number- one security threat to the Afghan sovereignty. Meanwhile, ISKP (ISIS-K) has recorded a large number of civilian casualties, although not capable of overthrowing the Afghan government. After the fall of Ashraf Ghani's government and the Taliban’s rise to power, ISKP is now the main security threat to Taliban rule. Given the significance of Afghanistan's geography and the impact of its security developments on neighboring countries, the Institute for East Strategic Studies (IESS) has decided to monitor the activities and attacks of ISKP.

Mapping ISKP attacks in Afghanistan

By Javid Hosseini and Samaneh Akhgari

For the past 20 years, the Taliban had been considered as the number- one security threat to the Afghan sovereignty. Meanwhile, ISKP (ISIS-K) has recorded a large number of civilian casualties, although not capable of overthrowing the Afghan government. After the fall of Ashraf Ghani's government and the Taliban’s rise to power, ISKP is now the main security threat to Taliban rule. The new round of ISKP attacks began with a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, which attracted worldwide attention. After this bloody start, the group has launched several operations - including bombing, beheading, assassination and suicide attack- mainly against the Taliban forces.
Given the significance of Afghanistan's geography and the impact of its security developments on neighboring countries, IESS has begun to monitor the activities and attacks of ISKP.
The following map shows ISKP attacks after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul until Jan 9. 2024, and will be updated regularly.
Click here to see the high quality version of the map.
 
Methodology
The developments of Afghanistan have had a deep impact on the country's media. Therefore, it is not possible to rely on the media sources to follow the country’s events, especially the security ones. For this reason, in addition to media reports, we have used the Taliban websites’ news, well-known observer’s reports, statements from local sources, as well as ISIL announcements to map the ISKP attacks.