Afghans living in dystopian nightmare sandwiched between Taliban, Islamic State Khorasan: Expert

Dr Sajjan Gohel, International Security Director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, said that the Afghans are living in a very dystopian nightmare as they are sandwiched between the misogynistic Taliban and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the IS in Iraq and Syria.

Replying to the new violence in Afghanistan that erupted last week in an interview with ABC News, Gohel said, "Anyone getting educated is their target. Boys or Girls. These are some of the most horrific attacks on school children over the last few years. There is nothing new other than that it has brought further misery to the Afghan people who are living in a very dystopian nightmare. They are sandwiched between the misogynistic Taliban and on the other hand the ISKP."

"These attacks seem to be coordinated. It seems to be a part of a strategy, ostensibly, by the so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the terrorist outfit which is affiliated to ISIS in Iraq and Syria," he added.

He further noted that this group consists primarily of Afghans and Pakistanis, who may be carrying out attacks similar to what we have seen with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

"They are very much indigenous movements that are ideologically similar to the Taliban even though on the surface they may claim to be an enemy of the Taliban," he said in his interview.

Commenting on the ISIS claiming responsibility for the blasts in Afghanistan and not blast in boy schools, Gohel said, "It is likely that they will take responsibility for that blast as well as they target anyone getting an education."

Notably, Afghanistan has been rocked by a new wave of violence after the Taliban regained control of the country. Dozens of people have been killed overnight in two attacks carried out by the Islamic State group. Days after at least six people were killed by a bomb blast at a boy's school in the capital city of Kabul. Eight months after the Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan, there's been increased violence and a resurgence of extremist groups.

( With inputs from ANI )