Scores of Afghans and numerous US servicemembers are dead after a series of bombings and shootings around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The attacks come as the American drawdown from Afghanistan nears its long-awaited conclusion.
A relatively new faction of ISIL from the vaguely defined Khorasan region in Iran and Afghanistan – sometimes known as ISIL-K – is suspected to be behind the attack. While ISIL-K has worked with the Pakistani Taliban in the past, the White House recently detailed the "sworn enemy" relationship between the Afghan Taliban and ISIL-K in a press briefing specifically warning of the possibility of such an attack.
The attack is quite possibly a ploy to provoke a maintained American troop presence in Afghanistan, a long-term goal of ISIL and other Al-Qaeda affiliates in concert with Osama bin Laden’s strategy of keeping the US tied down in the region.
The Pentagon will likely be required to work with the Taliban – a not unheard-of arrangement – in order to facilitate the safe passage of remaining American citizens and soldiers out of the country.
Jacob D. Witte is an independent writer and graduate student in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
