Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP)

Islamic State’s Wilayat Khorasan, referring to the historic region in Central Asia (parts of Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), is also known as Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) or ISIS-K.

ISIS spokesperson Mohammad al-Adnani accepted the bayyah, or pledge of allegience, from ISKP’s then leader Hafez Saeed Khan, in January 2015, and proclaimed Wilayat Khorasan to be the Afghanistan/Pakistan wing of ISIS Central.

Despite early attempts by the United States and Pakistan to rout the group, ISKP was able to gain a foothold in parts of Afghanistan, including in the Taliban’s southern stronghold Helmand, provinces in the north like Jowzjan, Sar-e-Pul and Farah in the west, and parts of eastern Nangarhar province.