ISIS has a "strong desire" to attack the United States, warned retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, former head of the U.S. Central Command, during an interview on ABC News' "This Week" program Sunday.
According to the retired military general, terrorists could enter through the southern border, taking advantage of the problems the Biden administration is having in preventing illegal migrants from entering the country.
McKenzie expressed his concern in the wake of the terrorist attack perpetrated by ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Central Asia, at the Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, on March 22, where at least 133 people were killed.
The retired general warned that ISIS will attempt to perpetrate an attack in the United States and calls not to minimize the terrorist group's threats. "We should believe them when they say that," he maintained. He added: "I think the threat is growing."
According to McKenzie, the threat began to increase when the U.S. left Afghanistan. "It took pressure off ISIS-K," he noted. He further added that the government should have left some presence in the country.
McKenzie also argued that a terrorist attack similar to the one perpetrated against Moscow "is inevitable" both at home and in allied nations.
However, he said that Russia could have prevented the attack if it had listened to the intelligence warnings issued by the United States. In fact, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council recently said that in early March, Washington shared information with Moscow about a planned terrorist attack in the Russian capital. And she added that the agency issued a public warning to Americans in Russia on March 7.
ISIS-K is getting 'bolder'
In addition to McKenzie, a member of U.S. intelligence also warned that ISIS terrorists could enter the United States through the southern border to carry out an attack.
Speaking to The New York Post, the official, who declined to reveal his identity, said ISIS-K is becoming "bolder" and could take advantage of the porous border with Mexico to attack a major target. It "is definitely a possibility," the intelligence official said.
After the attack in Russia, Michael Kurilla, head of the military's Central Command, told a House committee that ISIS-K “retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”
Who is ISIS-K and what is its goal?
The Islamic State of Greater Khorasan, better known as ISIS-K, is, as mentioned above, a branch of ISIS in Central Asia. The group, created in 2015, has been active in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Institute for Economics and Peace ranked ISIS-K as the fourth-deadliest terrorist organization in the world. In fact, it was this group that during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan perpetrated an attack outside the airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital, that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and 170 Afghans.
ISIS-K's goal, noted the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is to establish a "global, transnational caliphate" governed by Sharia (Islamic law).
ISIS-K is an even more radical group than the Taliban, who today rule Afghanistan, which is why they are also a target, in addition to the West.
According to CSIS, ISIS-K considers that the Taliban are not committed to a "universal Islamic jihad."
Therefore, ISIS-K targets not only the West, but also the Taliban and other Islamic targets, such as Shiite Muslim minorities in Afghanistan.
