---
title: "ISKP / ISIS-K: Islamic State Khorasan Explained"
description: "ISKP (ISIS-K) is the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate formed in 2015, distinct from the Taliban it fights. Read its structure, attacks and India relevance."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/islamic-state-khorasan-province"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Islamic State Khorasan Province is the Afghanistan-Pakistan regional affiliate of the Islamic State, formally recognised by ISIS central leadership in January 2015.
- How is ISKP different from the Afghan Taliban?
- Why is ISKP relevant to India's internal security?
- What is the significance of the name 'Khorasan'?
- Has ISKP conducted attacks outside Afghanistan?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 26 January 2015

   Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP, also rendered ISIS-K, IS-K or Wilayah Khorasan) is the South and Central Asian branch of the Islamic State, announced…

2. 14 May 2019

   The United States designated ISKP a Foreign Terrorist Organization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act in January 2016, and the United N…

3. 26 August 2021

   The group's most internationally consequential attack was the suicide bombing at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport, Abbey Gate, on during the US wi…

4. 3 January 2024

   It claimed the September 2022 suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul, and on carried out twin bombings in Kerman, Iran, at a commemoration for Qase…

5. 22 March 2024

   ISKP-linked operatives were identified in the Crocus City Hall massacre near Moscow on , which killed 145, demonstrating the branch's reach into the Russian…

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Example

On 26 August 2021, ISKP detonated a suicide bomb at Kabul airport's Abbey Gate during the US withdrawal, killing about 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members in the group's most internationally consequential attack.

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