Trump predicts emergence of new Islamic State affiliate 'ISIS-X' after Kabul airport attack
Trump has been critical of the Biden administration’s policy in Afghanistan, saying he would have first evacuated Americans before pulling out the military.
Former US President Donald Trump has predicted the emergence of a new affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after his successor decided to completely withdraw troops from Afghanistan and shut down all airbases. Speaking to Fox News, Trump claimed that he had “knocked out 100 per cent” of the Islamic State caliphate in Iraq and Syria but a new branch “ISIS-X” emerged.
"That's the new ISIS-X, where they broke away -- or ISIS-K,” the former commander-in-chief said, mistakenly calling the Afghanistan affiliate of Islamic State (ISIS-K) as ISIS-X.
But Trump quickly turned his mistake into a prediction, saying “they'll have an ISIS-X pretty soon, which is gonna be worse than ISIS-K."
The letter 'K' in the ISIS-K means Khorasan, taken the historical name for the region which constitutes parts of present-day Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia.
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Trump has intensified his attack on US President Joe Biden after the Taliban’s lightning push to take control of Afghanistan turned the situation at the Kabul airport chaotic. While the US troops are finalising their withdrawal from Afghanistan, hundreds of Americans are reportedly awaiting evacuation. The former US President has been critical of the Biden administration’s actions in Afghanistan, saying he would have first evacuated Americans before pulling out the military.
Trump, who, during his presidency, repeatedly stressed ending the “forever war” in Afghanistan, admitted on Fox News that he would have kept troops at Bagram Airbase.
“I would have blown up all the airbases but I would have kept Bagram. because Bagram is located right near China and Iran,” he said.
Multiple suicide bombings outside Kabul airport Thursday evening have further aggravated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The US department of defense confirmed that 13 US Marines were killed in the attacks.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this - we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command,” Biden warned ISIS-K after the blasts.