ISIS-K Responsible For Kabul Airport Blast Is ‘Eyeing India’

Picture courtesy Twitter/CNN

New Delhi: Taliban making inroads into Afghanistan and the twin blasts at Kabul airport by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (IS-KP) don’t bode well for India. Apprehending terror threats, the security agencies have been put on high alert.

“Though our security forces on high alert and have raised extra-vigil on the western and northern borders with Pakistan, the Kabul blasts on Thursday have raised a security concern for us,” a senior official in the security setup was quoted as saying by IANS, adding that additional steps have been taken in view of the Taliban and now the IS-KP.

The entry of IS-KP in Afghanistan was an alarm bell for Indian agencies which needed to revisit the strategies in view of the changed scenario, a former research associate of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) and teacher of International Relations in Delhi University Prof Sanjeev Srivastava was quoted as saying.

“Though both ultra outfits were against each other in the past and its entry in the war-ravaged country is not a good sign for India. The Narendra Modi government has adopted zero-tolerance against terrorism but we need to be on highest alert,” Srivastava said.

Former diplomat Vishnu Prakash said that any rival of Taliban, whether it is ISIS, ISKP or any kind of extremist organization of Afghanistan is an additional threat to India, but we are quite capable of handling them.

Meanwhile, quoting government sources, NDTV reported that having secured a solid foothold in Afghanistan, the ISIS-K hopes to “export jihad to Central Asia and later in India”.

Carrying out terror attacks and recruiting young people are on top of their agenda for this, they said, adding, “Ideologically, they want to establish the rule of the caliphate and India is included in that.”

They said young people from Kerala and Mumbai have joined ISIS and the violent group finds significant traction among radicalised individuals.

“If reverse osmosis starts, many cells can be activated in India,” said an official, expressing concern about the group’s recruitment plans.