The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, staying in the shadows for the most part of the previous year, seems to be making a resurgence.
IS claimed responsibility for an attack in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, the group’s Amaq news agency reported Sunday, cited by Reuters.
City officials said that at least three blasts were heard outside a jail compound.
According to The Times of India, special Afghan forces killed a high ranking IS affiliate near Jalalabad in the eastern part of the country, though it wasn’t clear if the incident was related to the explosions from earlier.
While the terrorist group has weakened in recent years, under the new leadership of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, IS has been regrouping and regaining its strength amid the unstable situation in Syria, Iraq and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula - exploiting the coronavirus crisis in the region as well, according to The Africa Report (TAR).
In the first four months of 2020, 566 attacks by IS took place in Iraq killing at least 35 people, TAR reported.
On July 6, Iraqi leading expert on IS, Hisham al-Hashimi, was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Baghdad.
The United Nations released a report in January, warning that IS “began to reaffirm its presence in the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq, fomenting more and more daring attacks.”
The report stated that the group still has some $100 million available at its disposal, partly explaining its recent growth in stature.