{"id":71372,"date":"2019-10-04T15:38:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/04\/isis-in-afghanistan-is-still-able-to-field-thousands-of-fighters-despite-hellacious-fight-to-destroy-it\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:23:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:23:48","slug":"isis-in-afghanistan-is-still-able-to-field-thousands-of-fighters-despite-hellacious-fight-to-destroy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/04\/isis-in-afghanistan-is-still-able-to-field-thousands-of-fighters-despite-hellacious-fight-to-destroy-it\/","title":{"rendered":"ISIS in Afghanistan is still able to field thousands of fighters despite hellacious fight to destroy it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In April 2017, U.S. forces dropped one of the largest non-nuclear bombs on an ISIS cave complex in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Dubbed the \u2018mother of all bombs<\/a>\u2019 it killed dozens of fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former U.S. Afghanistan commander Gen. John Nicholson\u2019s decision to unleash such an immense display of American air power against a militant group that at the time was estimated to number less than a 1,000 fighters was highly criticized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, despite years of American bombardment and hundreds of counterterrorism operations launched against the militant group largely cornered in remote pockets of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, ISIS fighters in Afghanistan number in the thousands while maintaining the ability to launch deadly high profile attacks across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent UN report <\/a>said ISIS terrorists in Afghanistan numbered between 2,500 and 4,000 fighters. A 2019 DoD report <\/a>on Afghanistan estimates the size of the terrorist group to be less than 2,000 fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISIS\u2019 staying power marches on in the mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan despite major territorial losses in 2018, and immense pressure from sustained operations by Afghan and U.S. forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its power and resurgence has ebbed and flowed with its ability to easily move weapons and supplies through Pakistan. On the recruitment front, its foreign fighters predominately hail from Central and South Asia, and the group often takes on disaffected Taliban fighters disillusioned by various infighting and political disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UN report estimated that less than 10 percent of ISIS\u2019 fighters in Afghanistan have experience fighting for the core ISIS group in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials with Resolute Support told Military Times that its assessment of the capabilities and trajectory of the terror group is \u201cconcerning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t