Back in December, after months of beating them back, the Iraqi military declared that it had “fully liberated” the country from ISIS. Shortly thereafter, the U.S.-led coalition announced that there were fewer than 1,000 ISIS fighters in the area around the Iraq-Syria border. However, a series of suicide bombings in Baghdad in early 2018 have raised fresh concerns that sleeper cells are still operating in the country. Meanwhile, Daesh has ramped up its efforts in Afghanistan as well.
According to the Afghanistan Public Health Ministry, a lone suicide bomber struck near a Shiite shrine in Kabul, the nation’s capitol, as people gathered to celebrate the Persian New Year, killing 29 and injuring at least 50. ISIS claimed credit for the attack in an online statement. Via PBS News:
The attack took place near Kabul University and a government hospital, around one kilometer (mile) away from the Sakhi shrine, where people were gathered to celebrate the new year, said Gen. Daud Amin, Kabul’s police chief.
Daud said the attacker managed to slip past police checkpoints set up along the road. He said an investigation into the security breach is underway, and that anyone found to have neglected his duties would be punished.
An ISIS bomber also targeted minority Shiites earlier in March, killing nine while suicide bombing a police checkpoint.
(Via PBS News Hour)