COMMON ANALYSIS | Last update: June 2026
The analysis below is based on the following EUAA COI products: Country Focus 2026, 2.2.2., 2.3.; Country Focus 2024, 2.1., 2.2.2., 2.3.; Anti-Government Elements, 3., 3.3.. Country Guidance should not be referred to as a source of COI.
The ISKP is a UN-designated terrorist organisation in Afghanistan with operational ties with local groups. It is a Salafi-Jihadist organisation aiming to revive a pure form of Islam through armed jihad.
In 2025, the strength of the ISKP was estimated to 2 000 individuals and the group was described as scattered across the northern and northeastern provinces with no evident presence in Afghanistan under the de facto government. The group reportedly operates through decentralised networks of cells spread across the country. Many ISKP cells have moreover reportedly relocated from former strongholds to Pakistan and northern Afghanistan. In 2025, the UN assessed that the ISKP posed no significant challenge to the de facto authorities’ territorial control. However, reports indicate that in the provinces of Badakhshan and Kunduz sympathisers and support for the group have increased significantly, including in retaliation for the de facto authorities’ poppy eradication campaign.
The number of ISKP attacks significantly decreased after a peak in 2022. The group’s operational capacity has been reportedly weakened following intense counter-operations in which the de facto authorities captured and killed several ISKP commanders and dismantled numerous ISKP cells. It was reported that ISKP had shifted its operations to targets abroad although sources noted that sporadic ISKP attacks have continued in Afghanistan, mainly targeting the de facto authorities, but also religious or ethnic minorities, including one attack against the Sufi community in Baghlan. Some civilian deaths in events involving ISKP have been reported by UCDP in the period 1 October 2024 – November 2025.
For additional information on ISKP activities please refer to 3.12.1. Individuals of Hazara ethnicity and other Shias as well as to 4.3.3(a) Security situation in Afghanistan: recent events for more information on the methods and tactics.