What is ISIS Khorasan, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the Moscow concert hall? – Politico

There is also the possibility that they, like many armed groups in the region and groups affiliated with the Islamic State, will claim responsibility for attacks that they outsource or have no connection to the organization in the first place. This is a low-cost, high-impact way to spread their message and gain recruits. But it also makes it very difficult to gauge how dangerous they actually are, and how best to defeat them.

Why did the group attack Russia? What are her ambitions?

On March 25, ISIS Khorasan Province’s media outlets issued a rambling statement Claim They carried out the attack in Moscow but the evidence was weak. It claimed that Moscow's attack was aimed at embarrassing the Taliban government, undermining its anti-terrorism pledges, and discouraging Chinese and Russian investments in Afghanistan..

ISIS-K made similar claims after its September 2022 attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul.

ISIS-K's ambitions are to create an Islamic state in Central Asia.

Where and how is he recruited?

Within Afghanistan, its ranks consist mainly of disaffected Taliban, as well as conservative young Afghans who oppose the Taliban. The number of younger, multi-ethnic recruits is increasing, attracting disaffected ethnic minorities. It is increasingly recruiting from disaffected Afghans and Central Asians, especially from Tajikistan, as well as from Central Asian migrants in Turkey and Europe.

In Afghanistan, recruiting personnel requires careful scrutiny and indoctrination. Abroad, it depends greatly on Social networking and messaging applications. Its Amaq News Agency publishes in no less than five languages ​​and operates Telegram channels in the same number, if not more.