Khorasan Province (Militant Group)
| Khorasan Province | |
|---|---|
|
Wilayah Khorasan Participant in the War in North-West Pakistan and the War in Afghanistan |
|
The Black Standard of ISIL.
|
|
| Active | 26 January 2015–present |
| Ideology |
Salafist Islamism Salafist Jihadism |
| Leaders | Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL) Hafiz Saeed Khan † |
| Area of operations | Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mongolia. |
| Strength |
2,500 (Sep 2015) 1,000 (Dec 2016) |
| Part of |
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
|
| Merger of | Defectors from Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and other factions who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State |
| Allies | |
| Opponents |
State Opponents Non-State Opponents |
2,500 (Sep 2015)
State Opponents
Non-State Opponents
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-K,Wilayah Khorasan) is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
ISIL announced the group's formation in January 2015 and appointed former Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant Hafiz Saeed Khan as its leader, with former Afghan Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Aliza appointed as deputy leader. Aliza was killed in a U.S. drone strike in February 2015, while Khan was killed in a U.S. airstrike in July 2016. Its current leader is unknown.
The Khorasan group's area of operations also includes other parts of South Asia.
Around September 2014, ISIL sent representatives to Pakistan to meet with local militants, including some Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) factions, following several months of discussions. At the same time, leaflets, flags and propaganda materials in support of ISIL began being distributed in parts of Pakistan, including a pamphlet written in Pashto and Dari that called on all Muslims to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The leaflets were believed to have been produced and distributed from across the border in Afghanistan. In October 2014, former Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Khadim visited Iraq, later returning to Afghanistan where he recruited followers in Helmand and Farah provinces. In the same month, 6 TTP commanders in Pakistan; Hafiz Khan Saeed, official spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, and the TTP commanders of Kurram and Khyber tribal regions and Peshawar and Hangu Districts, publicly defected from the TTP and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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Wikipedia