ISIS Khorasan: 10 Things You Need to Know about ISIS Offshoot

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (UP ATS) has claimed to have gunned down an alleged Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Khorasan member in Lucknow's Thakurganj on Wednesday morning.

Here are the 10 things you need to know about the Khorasan group.

1)Khorasan is a historical region comprising a vast territory covering northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan and parts of India.

2)The ISIS which was first born in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003 went on to stretch its presence from West Asia (Syria, Iraq) to South Asia in Afghanistan, Pakistan.

3)Khorasan is 'a word which carries mythical overtones for some Muslims after an ancient prophecy that black flags would once again fly in Khorasan region before the end of the world, a BBC report in 2015 said.

4)The ISIS in 2015 announced that it is expanding in 'Khorasan province'. ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad-al-Adnani in an audio speech announced Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Hafiz Saeed Khan as the governor of Khorasan province, while former Taliban commander and Guantanamo Bay detainee, Abdul Rauf Khadim, was named as deputy governor. The audio speech was published by ISIS media wing Al-Furqan website in January 26, 2015.

5)According to a report, a group of Taliban operatives in Afghanistan and Pakistan pledged their allegience to ISIS and formed the Khorasan Shura.

6)The Khorasan branch of ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Pakistan killing at least 72.

7)In the Afghan conflict, the ISIS Khorasan has explicitly attempted to stoke sectarian conflict by attacking Shias and placing itself as one defending global Sunnism.

8)Designated as a terrorist organisation world over, the ISIS is an ultra-extremist, militarily offshoot of the Sunni-Wahhabi and Salafi school of Islam, who demonised Shias and other Muslim sects as heretics. The ultimate aim of ISIS is to found a hard-line Sunni Islamic global caliphate beginning from Arab lands and stretching to other parts of the world.

9)A Kerala youth Hafisudeen, who was killed in a US drone strike recently was suspected of joining ISIS Khorasan in Afghanistan. According to a report, about 21 missing Kerala youths have reportedly joined ISIS. The ISIS since its inception has dethroned Al Qaida from the position of most extremist organisation.

10)The ISIS who is on the wane after military operations by US and its Arab allies still hold large parts of Syria and maintain its caliphate in the Syrian city of Raqqa.