\n<\/p>\n
Five years ago this month, an American-backed Kurdish and Arab militia ousted<\/a> Islamic State fighters from a village in eastern Syria, the group\u2019s last sliver of territory.<\/p>\n Since then, the organization that once staked out a self-proclaimed caliphate across Iraq and Syria has metastasized into a more traditional terrorist group<\/a> \u2014 a clandestine network of cells from West Africa<\/a> to Southeast Asia engaged in guerrilla attacks, bombings and targeted assassinations.<\/p>\n None of the group\u2019s affiliates have been as relentless as the Islamic State in Khorasan, which is active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and has set its sights on attacking Europe and beyond. U.S. officials say the group carried out the attack near Moscow<\/a> on Friday, killing scores of people and wounding many others.<\/p>\n In January, Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, carried out twin bombings in Iran<\/a> that killed scores and wounded hundreds of others at a memorial service for Iran\u2019s former top general, Qassim Suleimani, who was targeted in a U.S. drone strike four years earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe threat from ISIS,\u201d Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, told a Senate panel this month, \u201cremains a significant counterterrorism concern.\u201d Most attacks \u201cglobally taken on by ISIS have actually occurred by parts of ISIS that are outside of Afghanistan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of the military\u2019s Central Command, told a House committee on Thursday that ISIS-K \u201cretains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.\u201d<\/p>\n American counterterrorism specialists on Sunday dismissed the Kremlin\u2019s suggestion that Ukraine was behind Friday\u2019s attack near Moscow. \u201cThe modus operandi was classic ISIS,\u201d said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n The assault was the third concert venue in the Northern Hemisphere that ISIS has struck in the past decade, Mr. Hoffman said, following an attack on the Bataclan theater in Paris in November 2015<\/a> (as part of a broader operation that struck other targets in the city) and a suicide bombing<\/a> at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, England, in May 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Islamic State Khorasan, founded in 2015 by disaffected members of the Pakistani Taliban, burst onto the international jihadist scene after the Taliban toppled the Afghan government in 2021. During the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing<\/a> at the international airport in Kabul in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians.<\/p>\n Since then, the Taliban have been fighting ISIS-K in Afghanistan. So far, the Taliban\u2019s security services have prevented the group from seizing territory or recruiting large numbers of former Taliban fighters, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials.<\/p>\n But the upward arc and scope of ISIS-K\u2019s attacks have increased in recent years, with cross-border strikes into Pakistan and a growing number of plots in Europe. Most of those European plots were thwarted, prompting Western intelligence assessments that the group might have reached the lethal limits of its capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Last July, Germany and the Netherlands coordinated arrests targeting<\/a> seven Tajik, Turkmen and Kyrgyz individuals linked to a ISIS-K network who were suspected of plotting attacks in Germany.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Three men were arrested in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia over alleged plans to attack the Cologne Cathedral<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve 2023. The raids were linked to three other arrests in Austria and one in Germany on Dec. 24. The four people were reportedly acting in support of ISIS-K.<\/p>\n American and other Western counterterrorism officials say these plots were organized by low-level operatives who were detected and thwarted relatively quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cThus far, ISIS-Khorasan has relied primarily on inexperienced operatives in Europe to try to advance attacks in its name,\u201d Christine S. Abizaid, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a House committee<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n But there are worrisome signs<\/a> that ISIS-K is learning from its mistakes. In January, masked assailants attacked a Roman Catholic church<\/a> in Istanbul, killing one person. Shortly afterward, the Islamic State, through its official Amaq News Agency<\/a>, claimed responsibility. Turkish law enforcement forces detained 47 people, most of them Central Asian nationals.<\/p>\n Since then, Turkish security forces have launched mass counteroperations<\/a> against ISIS suspects in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Several European investigations shed light on the global and interconnected nature of ISIS finances, according to a United Nations report in January, which identified Turkey as a logistical hub for ISIS-K operations in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Moscow and Iran attacks demonstrated more sophistication, counterterrorism officials said, suggesting a greater level of planning and an ability to tap into local extremist networks.<\/p>\n \u201cISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years,\u201d frequently criticizing President Vladimir V. Putin in its propaganda, said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. \u201cISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands, referencing Moscow\u2019s interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n A significant portion of ISIS-K\u2019s members are of Central Asian origin, and there is a large contingent of Central Asians living and working in Russia. Some of these individuals may have become radicalized<\/a> and been in position to serve in a logistical function, stockpiling weapons, Mr. Clarke said.<\/p>\n Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism specialist at Georgetown University, said that \u201cISIS-K has gathered fighters from Central Asia and the Caucasus under its wing, and they may be responsible for the Moscow attack, either directly or via their own networks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n