Islamic State (IS) have claimed responsibility for an attack on the Pakistani army. As account associated with Wilayat Khorasan tweeted,

IS claims attacks on #Pakistani apostate army, leaving 13 apostates killed.

This could not be independently verified.

IS have been active in the Afghanistan/ Pakistan region for over a year. This week has seen both positive and negative news for the group. Firstly they released photographs of the “graduation” of their first group of fighters in Waziristan, see following link,

“Afghanistan, Pakistan: Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan release photos of the graduation of first batch of mujahideen”

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/afghanistan-pakistan-islamic-state-wilayat-khorasan-release-photos-of-the-graduation-of-first-official-batch-of-mujahideen/

Secondly 16 IS fighters were allegedly killed in a US drone strike in Nangarhar border area of Afghanistan, Dawn reported,

“security sources said the first drone targeted a militant compound in the Nazyan district of Nangarhar province, killing six suspected militants and completely destroying their compound.

The sources added that all the six ‘militants’ belonged to the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan.

Later in the day, a drone targeted a hideout in Bandar area of Nangarhar. Security sources said the drone fired two missiles, killing 10 suspected militants, all of whom they said belonged to the IS.”

http://www.dawn.com/news/1215075

Links

“Are IS gaining a foothold in AfPak?”

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/are-is-gaining-a-foothold-in-afpak-new-video-release-shows-some-allegiance-in-the-region/

“Islamic State: Graphic video released allegedly showing Taliban supporters tied with explosives and blown up”

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/afpak-islamic-state-khorasan-graphic-video-released-allegedly-showing-talibansupporters-members-tied-with-explosives-and-blown-up/

“Afghanistan: Islamic State, Khorasan allege capturing 3 posts in Nangarhar and killing dozens of military”

https://activist1.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/afghanistan-islamic-state-khorasan-allege-capturing-3-posts-in-nangahar-and-killing-dozens-of-military/

“IS in Afghanistan”

http://www.dawn.com/news/1210025/is-in-afghanistan

More posts on IS can be found on the blog.

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad.  She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.