From the Middle East to Afghanistan: The Evolution of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province

Dr Antonio Giustozzi, author of the books The Taliban at War and The Islamic State in Khorasan, will discuss the role of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, following the fall of Kabul. Alongside him will be Raffaello Pantucci, a researcher at RSIS whose work looks at security dynamics in the Eurasian heartland. Their discussion maps the evolution of the Islamic State’s footprint from Syria to Afghanistan and its current relationship with the Taliban. Will future Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) attacks, similar to the recent one that happened at Kabul International Airport taking the lives of hundreds of Afghans and 13 US servicemen, complicate Taliban efforts to demonstrate its control of Afghanistan? Will ISKP launch an assassination campaign to eliminate high-level Taliban cadres with the same tactics previously used by the Taliban themselves when they attacked Afghan government officials? Will the Taliban seek greater co-operation with the West and/or other external powers to target ISKP?  Also, will greater engagement with outside powers, including China, promote dissatisfaction within Taliban ranks that will in turn increase the ISKP’s recruitment? Moderated by Dr Alessandro Arduino, Principal Research Fellow, MEI (NUS), Dr Giustozzi and Mr Pantucci explores these questions and look at the future of Eurasia security architecture, post-US and NATO withdrawals from the region. This public talk was conducted online via Zoom on Tuesday, 9 November 2021, from 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm (SGT). For more information about this event, click here: https://mei.nus.edu.sg/event/from-the-middle-east-to-afghanistan-the-evolution-of-the-islamic-state-in-khorasan-province/