The Islamic State is waging an ongoing insurgency against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
The conflict began in 2015 following the creation of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP), a regional branch of the Islamic State. IS-KP and the Taliban started to clash over control of territory during the war in Afghanistan (2001–2021), mostly in eastern Afghanistan but also through cells in the north-west and south-west. The Haqqani network, al-Qaeda and others supported the Taliban, while IS was supported by the Mullah Dadullah Front and the pro-ISIS faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. IS-KP had lost territory to both the Taliban and the former republican government, with American support, by 2020. Following the Taliban capture of Kabul in 2021, IS-KP have continued its insurgent attacks against the new Taliban regime.
As of October 2024 IS-KP is the largest and most powerful of the terror groups active in Afghanistan, with the Taliban appearing to view IS-KP as the primary threat to their rule. As of June 2026, BBC Monitoring reported that IS-KP is severely crippled and only a "shadow of its former self.'
Background
During the original stint in power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the ruling Taliban had pursued a policy of suppressing Salafism; motivated by strict Deobandi tenets. During this period, the main issue of Salafist scholars was that Taliban was led by Maturidi Sufis. As a result of the unofficial Taliban bans on Ahl-i Hadith during the 1996–2001 era, several Salafis had shifted to Peshawar. However, after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Taliban and Ahl-i Hadith allied to wage a common Jihad to resist the invasion. The Afghan Salafists decided to put aside their differences with the Taliban to join them in the "greater jihad" against the United States. Several Arab Salafis in Al-Qaeda rank and file would mediate the disputes between Afghan Salafists and Taliban; enabling them to unify for the more important religious duty of fighting against the U.S and its allies in Afghanistan. Many Salafi commanders and Ahl-i Hadith organisations participated in the Taliban insurgency (2001–2021) under Afghan Taliban's command.
During the Taliban insurgency, in January 2015, IS established itself in Khorasan and formed IS-K. The main objective of IS-K was to occupy the land of Khorasan, which includes the country of Afghanistan. Even though the initial IS-K was formed by Taliban as well as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) defectors and thus ideologically similar, it became dominated by Salafists. The disgruntled members of TTP would establish IS-KP and shifted to the Nangarhar province. After its founding Pakistani leaders who defected from TTP were killed in US drone strikes, Afghan Salafists took charge of TTP. The conflict escalated when militants affiliated with IS-KP killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar Province on 2 February 2015.
The emergence of IS-K provided militant Afghan Salafists with an opportunity to set up a rival force, although Salafist support for the group waned as it proved ideologically "too extreme and brutal" for most Afghan Salafis. As a result, the majority of Afghan Salafis have remained supportive of the Taliban. In March 2020, major Pashtun Ahl-i Hadith ulema convened in Peshawar under the leadership of Shaikh Abdul Aziz Nooristani and Haji Hayatullah to pledge Bay'ah (oath of loyalty) to the Taliban and publicly condemn IS-K. The scholars also requested protection from the Afghan Taliban for the Ahl-i Hadith community.
After Taliban victory in the War in Afghanistan and restoration of the Islamic Emirate, hundreds of Ahl-i Hadith ulema would gather to announce their Bay'ah (pledge of allegiance) to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Numerous Ahl-i Hadith clerics and their representatives held gatherings across various provinces of Afghanistan to re-affirm their backing of the Taliban and officially declare their support to the Taliban crackdown on IS-K. Several members of the Afghan intelligence agency and the Afghan national army have also joined the Islamic State – Khorasan Province. The High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, previously a breakaway Taliban faction, announced that they have pledged allegiance to the Taliban and will dissolve. In February 2022, Pakistani officials acknowledged that ongoing violence was destabilizing the region.
Opposing forces
By 2016 IS-K mostly consisted of eastern Afghans, Pakistanis, and foreign fighters from Central Asia. The latter were mainly former members of the Islamic Jihad Union and the Turkistan Islamic Party. In addition, there were a small number of Arabs. Throughout its existence, IS-K has operated in a very limited area, mainly concentrated in select provinces in eastern Afghanistan, most importantly Nangarhar and Kunar. By 2016, it had appointed shadow governors in other regions as well, but not exerted much influence outside its traditional bases. The group is known to receive support by the Islamic State's central command in form of money and combat trainers from Iraq and Syria. IS-K's combat strength has fluctuated greatly over the years, but has mostly remained in the low thousands.
During the Taliban insurgency
2015
On 2 February militants affiliated with IS-K killed Abdul Ghani, a Taliban commander, in Logar province.
On 26 May Asif Nang, governor of Farah province, said the Taliban have been fighting against IS militants for the past three days in Farah province. The clash left ten Taliban and 15 IS militants dead.
In May IS-K militants captured Maulvi Abbas, a Taliban commander who was leading a small squad of insurgent fighters in Nangarhar province.
In June IS-K militants beheaded ten Taliban fighters who were fleeing an Afghan military offensive according to a spokesman of Afghan army corps responsible for the region.
On 9 November fighting had broken out between different Taliban factions in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan. Fighters loyal to the new Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour began to fight a pro-IS faction, led by Mullah Mansoor Dadullah. According to Afghan security and local officials, Akhtar Mansour had sent as many as 450 Taliban fighters to crush Mullah Mansoor and Islamic State elements in Zabul. Dadullah's faction received support from IS during the clashes, and IS fighters also joined in on the fighting alongside Dadullah, including foreign fighters from Chechnya and Uzbekistan. Dadullah and IS were eventually defeated by Mansour's forces. Hajji Momand Nasratyar, the district governor of Arghandab, said the fighting took place in three districts of Zabul province and 86 IS militants and 26 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash. Taliban also reported to have killed several IS militants who were responsible for beheading of seven Hazara civilians a few days back.
Hajji Atta Jan, the Zabul provincial council chief, said the offensive by Mullah Mansour's fighters was so intense, that at least three Islamic State commanders, all of them ethnic Uzbeks, had surrendered. They were also asking others IS militants to do the same. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, while quoting sources from Southern Afghanistan, reported that some 70 IS militants were also captured in the clash by the Taliban.
On 13 November Ghulam Jelani Farahi, an Afghan police chief, said that Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was killed in a clash with Taliban.
2016
In January hundreds of Taliban fighters launched an assault against IS bases in eastern Afghanistan. Taliban fighters were successful in capturing two districts from IS in eastern Afghanistan, but it failed to drive the group out of their stronghold in the Nazyan District in Nangarhar province. Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that 26 IS militants and five Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes in Nangarhar.
On 2 February US carried out airstrikes targeting IS radio station in eastern Afghanistan. The strike destroyed the radio station and killed 29 IS militants.
In March Taliban factions led by Muhammad Rasul and opposed to Mansoor, began to fight against his loyalists in the group. During the fighting, dozens were reported killed.
On 26 April Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal, a provincial police spokesman, said that ten IS militants, including an IS commander, and six Taliban fighters were killed in a clash in Nangarhar. Fifteen IS militants and four Taliban fighters were also wounded during the same clash according to the spokesman.
On 19 May local government officials reported that a clash took place between IS and Taliban in Achin and Khogyani District of Nangarhar province. Fifteen IS militants and three Taliban fighters were killed in Achin district, and the remaining were killed in Khogyani. Four Taliban commanders were also among the dead.
On 13 August US defence officials said that ISIL's top leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan, was killed in a drone strike on 26 July in Nangarhar province.
On 30 October Ajmal Zahid, a governor of Golestan district, said that ISIL's commander, Abdul Razaq Mehdi, was killed by Taliban fighters in Farah province.
2017
On 13 April 2017 the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb, known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) Mother of All Bombs near Momand village upon a Nangahar's Achin District village in eastern Afghanistan to destroy tunnel complexes used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP or ISIS–K). The Guardian reported that following the strike, US and Afghan forces conducted clearing operations and airstrikes in the area and assessed the damage.
On 26 April a fight occurred after IS captured three drug dealers who were involved in selling opium for the Taliban in Jowzjan Province. An Afghan National Police spokesman stated that the Taliban attacked IS in response, saying "The clashes erupted when group of armed Taliban attacked Daesh militants [to secure] the release of three drug smugglers who came here to pay 10 million afghanis [$14,780] to the Taliban for a deal." The Taliban's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid had also confirmed clashes were ongoing with IS at the time, without providing details on the nature of the fight or reasons. Mohammad Reza Ghafori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that the clashes between Taliban and IS-K had left 76 Taliban and 15 IS militants dead. IS militants also seized two districts from the Taliban, according to the spokesman.
On 24 May a clash between the Taliban and IS occurred, and at that time, it had reportedly been the largest clash between the two with 22 casualties, 13 of which were IS fighters, and nine Taliban fighters, according to a Taliban official. The clashes occurred near Iran's border with Afghanistan. The Taliban had attacked an IS camp in the area, an IS commander, who was formerly a Taliban member, said that there was an agreement between the Taliban and IS not to attack each other until there was a dialogue. The commander claimed that the Taliban had violated the agreement and attacked the IS camp. The IS commander also claimed the attack was coordinated with the Iranian military, and that there were Iranians filming dead IS fighters. The Taliban splinter faction Fidai Mahaz has also criticized the Taliban for its relationship with Iran. Days before the battle, the Taliban reportedly met with Iranian officials to discuss regional issues. A spokesman for Fidai Mahaz claimed the meeting was held at the request of the Taliban, as it was weary of the expansion of IS in the country, which also concerned the Iranian government. The spokesman also said that the Taliban received US$3 million in cash, 3,000 arms, 40 trucks, and the ammunition from Iran's intelligence services, to fight IS near the Iranian border, although a Taliban spokesman denied the allegations.
On 27 November Taliban executed one of its senior commanders for colluding with IS. A week before, IS fighters were mass executed by their fellow militants in Achin district, according to a provincial government spokesman. However, the spokesman did not provide any additional detail, and neither did IS release any official statement on killing its own members.
2018
On 20 June after the talks between the Russian government and the Taliban, US assistant secretary of state Alice Wells condemned the Russian government's position on the Taliban that included backing for the group against IS, stating it gave the Taliban legitimacy and challenged the recognized Afghan government.