OVERVIEW

ISIS-Khorasan flag

One of ISIS’s most lethal branches, ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) has killed or injured hundreds of people in mass-casualty attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia. In 2024 and 2025, the branch plotted attacks against targets in Europe that were later disrupted, and in 2025, ISIS-K leaders voiced support for attacks in the United States. The branch also attacked US military personnel before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

ISIS-K was formed in 2015 by members of other militant groups—including Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan—who pledged allegiance to ISIS. The branch aspires to establish a province in ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate by controlling territory in “the Khorasan,” referring to Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, Central Asia, and Iran. ISIS-K uses its media to call for attacks, solicit donations, and recruit new members. The branch obtains funding from donations and criminal activity.

OPERATING AREA
Afghanistan and Pakistan

TACTICS AND TARGETS
ISIS-K conducts ambushes, military-style assaults, targeted killings, and bombings primarily using small arms, light and heavy machineguns, rockets, improvised explosive devices, and suicide bombers. ISIS-K primarily targets the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Pakistani Government, and religious and ethnic minorities. The branch has also pursued external operations through lone-actor or coordinated attacks. ISIS-K seeks to promote sectarian violence and local instability, and the branch exploits poor economic conditions and social divisions to attract members.

TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated ISIS-K as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2016. Sanaullah Ghafari, who has been the branch’s amir since June 2020, was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in November 2021.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS