On CBS, former acting and deputy CIA director Michael Morell said the ISIS-K terror group in Afghanistan is very capable and stronger now than when the US withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
When asked about ISIS-K, Morell explained it emerged in Afghanistan inspired by ISIS’ rise in Iraq and Syria in 2013-2014, formed from remnants of the Taliban and Pakistani groups.
CBS’s John Dickerson said, “How should our viewers think about ISIS-K and ISIS and the way it’s evolved and morphed from — maybe the last some people checked in, they were thinking about it in Iraq. So, help us understand where ISIS is and where ISIS-K fits in.”
Morell noted ISIS-K conducted a large, capable attack in Iran in January and is likely the strongest ISIS affiliate globally.
He added that ISIS-K has significantly increased in strength compared to before the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
Morell said, “When ISIS became a significant group in Iraq and Syria in 2013, 2014, they inspired groups in the rest of the world. And one of those places was in Afghanistan. So, remnants of the Taliban, remnants of some Pakistani terrorist group came together as ISIS-K.”
Morell noted that ISIS-K “is now, I think, the strongest ISIS group in the world. They are very capable. They conducted an attack in Iran in early January, this attack now, very large, very capable. I think it’s safe to say that ISIS-K is today is much stronger than it was when we walked out of Afghanistan in [2021].”
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