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1 1 (February 12, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govyah0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated February 12, 2019 Al Qaeda and Islamic State Affiliates in Afghanistan Afghanistan's geography, complex ethnic makeup, and recent history of unstable and decentralized government have made it a hotspot for regional armed groups. This product outlines major terrorist groups affiliated and allied with Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or by the Arabic acronym Da 'esh) and the complex, often shifting relations between them and various other state and non-state actors. While Al Qaeda and the Taliban have fought alongside each other in Afghanistan, the Taliban is not an affiliate of Al Qaeda and has not been assessed as a threat to the U.S. homeland, and thus is considered only peripherally here. This product provides context for lawmakers as they assess the state of the conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. position in the region in light of ongoing U.S.-Taliban negotiations focused largely on counterterrorism concerns. Al Qaeda Core The top echelon or core of AQ leadership remains a primary military target of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Also known as Al Qaeda Central, the core is made up of AQ leader Ayman al Zawahiri and his deputies, an advisory council of about ten individuals, and members of various AQ committees such as military operations and finance. AQ leaders (including Hamza bin Laden, son of AQ founder Osama bin Laden, who has recently taken a more prominent role in AQ messaging) are currently thought to be based in the mountainous, tribal-dominated areas of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, often moving between the two. For years after 2001, U.S. officials maintained that AQ had only a minimal presence in Afghanistan. However, some analysts argued that the large number of U.S.-led coalition raids against AQ and affiliated groups that were announced over the past decade indicated a numerically larger and geographically broader AQ presence. A November 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) report estimated that there are 200 AQ members in Afghanistan. In January 2019, the UN reported that AQ continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership, based on its long-standing, strong ties with the Taliban, a relationship the UN describes, as it has for years, as an alliance. Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent In September 2014, Zawahiri announced the creation of a formal, separate Al Qaeda affiliate in South Asia, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Because of the close geographical proximity of AQIS and the AQ core, differentiating between the two is difficult, but some key distinctions exist. Overall, AQIS represents an attempt by AQ to establish a more durable presence in the region by enhancing links with local actors. AQIS leader Asim Umar is an Indian national with deep roots in Pakistan; AQ leaders are predominantly Arab (Zawahiri is Egyptian; Qahtani was Qatari). The relocation of some leaders from Afghanistan/Pakistan to Syria has given Al Qaeda Central further incentive to create a locally sustainable affiliate. The group has reportedly gained traction in places like Karachi, far beyond AQ's mountainous strongholds, and it is attempting to solidify its presence in Afghanistan by embedding fighters in the Taliban. According to a July 2018 U.N. report, AQIS, made up of several hundred people, is relatively isolated but continues to seek security gaps for opportunistic attacks. AQIS has claimed a number of such attacks in Pakistan and Bangladesh (mostly against security targets and secular activists, respectively). Additionally, a large and complex training camp discovered in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in 2015 was attributed to AQIS. The State Department designated AQIS a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and Asim Umar as a specially designated global terrorist, in June 2016. The conflict in Afghanistan has occurred at great cost in terms of both lives and resources. However, in considering the prospect of conflict termination, we must also weigh the cost of getting it wrong. ISIS, Al Qaeda and an estimated 18 other terrorist groups are still present in the region, and some within the intelligence community assess that external plotting would surge upon our withdrawal. General Joseph Votel, February 6, 2019 Islamic State Khorasan Province ( SKP) The Islamic State officially announced the formation of its Afghan affiliate in January 2015. ISKP (also known as ISIS-K) has maintained a presence in the country's east, particularly in Nangarhar province, which borders the region of Pakistan formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). There, ISKP is reportedly made up mostly of former Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants who fled Pakistani army operations in the FATA in late 2014. In the spring of 2015, ISKP assassinated the top Taliban leader in Nangarhar and established control over part of it. ISKP has condemned the Taliban as apostate, accusing it of having narrow tribal, ethnic, and/or national interests. ISKP has demonstrated operational abilities in the north as well. A March 2018 video released by ISKP demonstrated their hold over several districts in the largely Turkic- populated province of Jowzjan, highlighting ISKP's potential reach in areas dominated by ethnic groups not generally seen as receptive to Pashtun-based militant organizations. The senior ISKP leader in northern https:/crsreports.congress go

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