ISIS Now Says It Didn’t Bomb Afghanistan

ISIS loyalists may have claimed credit for Saturday bombing that killed at least 35 people in eastern Afghanistan. But U.S. officials now believe that Taliban fighters—not the Middle East-based extremist group—carried out the strike. Had ISIS been responsible, it would have been among the deadliest attacks by the group outside the Middle East.

It’s one sign among many that the international expansion by the self-described Islamic State might not be as serious as it once appeared—at least, not so far.

With major territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, ISIS appears to have struggled to expand its state outside the Middle East. The group may have members around the world embracing its brand. That doesn’t mean those jihadists are able to expand the ISIS caliphate, experts said.

…

“ISIS wants you to think it is absolutely everywhere,” said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “ISIS has players in far more theaters than it can be considered a major force in.”

… 

Read the full article here.