Islamic State–Taliban conflict
Part of the continuous Afghanistan conflict
Date2 February 2015 – present
(7 years, 1 month and 3 days)
Location
Afghanistan
Status

Ongoing

  • Initial Taliban victories in the battles of Darzab and Nangarhar
  • Collapse of the Islamic State stronghold in eastern Afghanistan in 2019
  • IS-KP regains strength in 2021, retaking territory in eastern Afghanistan
Belligerents

 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

  • Taliban
  • Haqqani network

Al-Qaeda
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan(pro-Taliban & anti-IS factions)
Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin


Supported by:
 United States(limited)
 Iran(allegedly)
 Pakistan(allegedly)
 Russia(allegedly)

Islamic State

  • Khorasan Province
  • IS central command

Mullah Dadullah Front
Fidai Mahaz


High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan(HCIEA)

Supported by:
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan(allegedly, until 2021)
Commanders and leaders

AfghanistanHibatullah Akhundzada(2016–)
AfghanistanHasan Akhund
AfghanistanAbdul Ghani Baradar
AfghanistanAbdul Salam Hanafi
AfghanistanYaqoob Umar
AfghanistanQari Fasihuddin
AfghanistanMohammad Bashir
AfghanistanSirajuddin Haqqani
AfghanistanZabiullah Mujahid
AfghanistanAbdul Haq Wasiq
AfghanistanHaji Nasarv
AfghanistanNeda Mohammad

Formerly:
  • Akhtar Mansour (2015–16, killed in an American airstrike)
    Abdul Ghani 
    AfghanistanHaji Shakir 
    AfghanistanHamdullah Mukhlis 
    Mawlavi Ezzatullah 

Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi(2022–)
Shahab al-Muhajir
Mawlavi Habib Ur Rahman
Ismatullah Khalozai
Sanaullah Ghafari
Sultan Aziz Azam
Maulawi Rajab
Najibullah
Muhammad Rasul

Formerly:
  • Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (killed in 2019)
    Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (2019–22, killed in Syria)
    Hafiz Saeed Khan 
    Abdul Haseeb Logari 
    Abdul Rahman Ghaleb 
    Abu Saad Erhabi 
    Abdul Rauf Aliza 
    Mawlawi Ziya ul-Haq Executed
    Abdullah Orokzai (POW)
    Nematullah Qaweem Surrendered
    Qari Hekmat 
    Farooq Bengalzai 
    Haji Qomandan 
    Mansoor Dadullah 
    Abdul Manan Niazi 
    Nangialai Khan 
Units involved

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan forces

  • Islamic Emirate Army
    • Red Unit
  • General Directorate of Intelligence
  • Pro-Taliban militias

Islamic State – Khorasan Province forces

  • Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan(pro-IS factions)
  • Taliban defectors
  • Former Afghan soldiers(2021–)
  • Former Afghan intelligence agency personnel(2021–)
Strength

Taliban:

  • 1,000 special forces (2015)
  • 70,000–75,000 fighters (2021)
Khorasan Province and its allies:
1,000–8,500 fighters (2016)
2,000–3,500 fighters (2021)
HCIEA:
3,000–3,500
Casualties and losses
UnknownUnknown
1,547 overall deaths (2015–2020)