Issue 11 Of ISIS-K’s Pashtu-Language Magazine ‘Khurasan Ghag’: ‘CIA Network Is The Source Of Ongoing Troubles In The Islamic Ummah; The CIA Turned The Islamic Ummah Into Pieces’

The latest issue “Khurasan Ghag [Voice of Khurasan],” the Pashtu-language magazine published by Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the media arm of the Islamic State’s Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), describes the de facto Afghan Taliban government as “a drama written and directed by CIA and ISI,” and says that “the CIA is leading an ideological war in the Islamic world and wants to make young Muslim generation unbeliever and secular.”

The latest issue, Issue 11 of the magazine is dated Rabiul Awwal 1444, in the Hijri calendar, which corresponds with the lunar month beginning September 28, 2022.

Like its previous editions, the Pashtu-language ISIS-K magazine is divided into four sections: religion, history, politics, and literature. Articles in the religion section discusses issues of jihad and the mujahideen in the light of the teachings of the Koran and hadiths (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), while the history section has two articles.

The literature section has two articles: an account of an injured fighter and the biography of slain jihadi commander Maulvi Mahmood Shaheen of Bajuar tribal district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The section on politics comprises of four articles: “The Mechanism of Islamic Governance,” “CIA Employees,” “Their Masters Accepted Homosexuality: When Shall The Taliban Disassociate Themselves From Them?” and “Blind Justice.”

“CIA Is Leading An Ideological War In The Islamic World And Wants To Make The Young [Muslim] Generation Into Secular Unbelievers; The CIA Is The Enemy Of The Believers Who Are Working For The Unity Of The Islamic Ummah”

One of the leading articles is titled “CIA Employees” – referencing the Afghan Taliban, who signed a peace agreement with the U.S. in Doha in February 2020. In this magazine as well as other magazines, ISIS-K has accused the Afghan Taliban of working as a proxy for the U.S. in Afghanistan and the area around it.

The article says that the CIA always uses private militias in its proxy wars by providing them dollars to keep them happy and shows them its back when its goals are achieved. It adds: “The Taliban apostate militia should know that CIA is a brutal network that has bitten millions of Muslims and tens of Muslims countries in the world with their poisonous canines.”

“The CIA network is the source of ongoing troubles in the Islamic Ummah. The CIA turned the Islamic Ummah into pieces. The CIA looted the Islamic Ummah and the wealth and treasures of the Muslim countries,” it says.

The article comments: “The CIA is leading an ideological war in the Islamic World and wants to make young [Muslim] generation into secular unbelievers. The CIA is the enemy of the believers who are working for the unity of the Islamic Ummah. There is no complaint from the Taliban because they have lost their faith only to gain power and to maintain [the Taliban government] it is necessary for them to protect the CIA’s goals and implement its plans.”

“The CIA’s New Hired Militia [i.e., The Afghan Taliban] Should Learn A Lesson From Their Predecessors Because These Intelligence Networks Use Militias Like The Taliban In Their Proxy Wars”

Accusing CIA of launching different types of plans and conspiracies, the article says the Afghan Taliban government is trying to weaken the Islamic State in Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) or to eliminate it altogether so that it may not pose any threat to the neighboring taghuti (“tyrannical”) countries or the Crusader alliance. The word “Taghut” means “tyrant” and is used by jihadi groups to describe any authority, ruler or regime for not abiding by the tenets of shari’a.

The article observes: “They [CIA] are trying to keep the [Muslim] ummah divided and plunge it into the dirty trap of patriotism, but by the grace of Allah the almighty, the Islamic State will demolish these borders and there will be one Islamic world, a single Imam [leader], a single flag and the single Kalimah from Malaysia to Andalusia [i.e., Spain].”

Kalimah denotes the Arabic words used to announce one’s faith in Islam. The words translate to: “There is no deity but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

“They are trying to maintain the security of the Crusader world but they should remember that they will be eliminated in this path and will not be able to protect the Crusader world,” it warns.

“The CIA’s new hired militia [i.e., the Afghan Taliban] should learn a lesson from their predecessors because these intelligence networks use militias like the Taliban in their proxy wars and give them dollars to keep them happy but when the day passes, they ignore them and do not give them the importance even given to a dog.

“So, before you undergo such experience, stop the killings of believers [ISIS-K fighters]. Let the mujahideen send the unbelief, idolatry, and apostasy packing from the face of the earth,” the article concludes.

Another article, “Their Masters [i.e., Pakistan] Accepted Homosexuality: When Shall The Taliban Dissociate Themselves From Them?” is in reference to the passing of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Riqhts) Act, 2018 by the parliament of Pakistan.

“Of these blasphemies, besides other Taghuti governments of the world, the homosexuality or transgender law which they call ‘bill’ was also passed in Pakistan. What is homosexuality? Homosexuality is that a male can fulfill his sexual desire from a male and a woman from a woman… This is the big vulgar, and bad act that cannot be found even in animals, but today the sellers of the faith of Islam very courageously and shamelessly gave legal status to this bad act,” the article states.

“Neither in Afghanistan nor in Pakistan, the Pakistan’s puppet Taliban government [in Kabul] showed any reaction to this law. The Taliban polytheists remain the same slaves bought with money and like the past cannot even cough without the permission of Pakistani generals,” says the article, accusing the Afghan Taliban of maintaining silence on Pakistan’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Riqhts) Act, 2018.

“The infidel laws will be eliminated by the hands of the mujahideen of the Islamic State in Pakistan and the sacred system of Islam will be established,” the article says.

“We urge the common Muslims of Pakistan… to come and join the ranks of the Islamic caliphate [led by ISIS] to send the infidelity, idolatry, democracy, and secular darkness packing from the world, including Pakistan, and spread the light of the establishment of Allah’s system. Allah willing,” the article concludes.

The coverpage article offers a biographical sketch of its slain fighter Maulvi Mahmood aka Maulvi Shaheen, who left other jihadi organizations in Pakistan’s tribal district of Bajaur and joined the ISIS-K, it says. Shaheen was from Salarzai area of Bajaur district and was the son of Muhammad Khan.

According to the article, he studied in different Islamic seminaries and also received jihadi training from an early age in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan. Besides taking part in jihad against “unbelievers and Tawagheet [tyrants]” in Afghanistan, he waged jihad against “the Pakistani apostate government,” it says.

Maulvi Shaheen reportedly moved to Dangam district of Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province along with his family when Pakistan forces launched a massive security operation in Bajaur. He pledged allegiance to then ISIS-K leader Hafiz Saeed Khan, who has since been killed, ISIS-K was formed, and was soon promoted to the rank of shadow district governor due to his jihadi achievements against the U.S. forces in the Baandar area of Kunar, Afghanistan. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike on July 28, 2016.

The magazine tells the story of an ISIS fighter who was injured in a “cruise” missile strike somewhere near Spin Ghar Mountain in Afghanistan. Another ISIS-K fighter, who is the narrator of the story, says he had left the house of an associate after five days of airstrikes on the area when he met the wounded jihadi on the way. Specific details about the injured jihadi are not given.

To show that the U.S. is backing the Taliban against ISIS-K, the narrator says that the injured jihadi and several other fighters came under attack from a “cruise” missile strike after several days of heavy attacks by Taliban forces. The narrator tried to take the injured fighter to a safer palace but left him on his insistence due to drones hovering over the area. However, it seems a mule was used to transport the wounded ISIS-K fighter to a secret medical facility that ISIS-K operated.

Issue 11 includes an account of the life of Tufayl ibn Amr Al-Dawsi, one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad who was a member of Dawsi tribe. Al-Dawsi was one of the most determined people of the Arabs in the era of Jahiliyya (“ignorance,” i.e., the pre-Islamic era). He was described as a generous person, used to provide food to people and never closed the door of his house to people. The article narrates the story of Al-Dawsi’s conversion to Islam, and his fighting alongside Prophet Muhammad. The article, describes Al-Dawsi as a wise man and a famous writer and poet of the time.