Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 28 July 2016: US-Afghan offensive against ISIS in Eastern Afghanistan

On Thursday, July 28, gen. John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has announced an increase in US involvement in an offensive against ISIS in the east of the country. Additional special forces units have been dispatched to the area and are directly involved in fighting, while the US Air Force is providing air support for Afghan forces. The additional forces are not counted as part of the permanent US contingent. According to Nicholson, military operations have thinned ISIS ranks from 3,000 to 1,500 and forced the remainder to retreat into the mountains in the south of Nangarhar province. The current phase of fighting has begun in the middle of July and is a prelude to a planned large-scale ground offensive in the province.

At the moment, 9,800 US combat troops are permanently stationed in Afghanistan and engaged primarily in training and support roles. This number was to be reduced to 5,500, but in the beginning of July the US president, Barack Obama, has announced a decision to retain 8,400 soldiers indefinitely. These are joined by around 6,000 soldiers from other NATO member-states. The maintenance of a higher than expected military presence is accompanied by a more direct involvement of US forces in military operations and the adoption of less restrictive rules of engagement by the US Air Force.

Read more (Politico) >>

ISIS has been present in Afghanistan since April 2014 – when it received loyalty pledges from several al-Kaida commanders – and in January 2015 it announced the creation of Khorasan Wilayat (province) encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its presence and the resulting competition over influence has alienated it from the Taliban, limiting it to the Nangarhar province in Eastern Afghanistan. However, the intensity of fighting and the increased US involvement suggest that ISIS is being treated as a significant threat by the authorities in Kabul and Washington, D.C. ISIS has also taken responsibility for a recent bombing in Kabul which claimed over 80 dead, most of them members of Hazara ethnic group.