In the days after deadly terrorist attacks in Russia and Iran attributed to ISIS-K, concerns have increased about the possibility of a similar attack on U.S. soil.
According to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the FBI is aware of efforts underway to smuggle individuals tied to the Islamic terrorist organization into America. He shared his troubling assessment of the situation during an interview on Sunday, citing discussions with FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“ISIS-K, ISIS-Khorasan, is largely the Afghan wing of ISIS,” the Florida Republican said. “It’s reconstituted itself as we warned would happen when we had this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Rubio reiterated his opposition to President Joe Biden’s botched troop pullout from Afghanistan on the grounds that it gave terrorists “operating space to reorganize themselves and plan externally,” noting that “since that time, they’ve attacked inside of Afghanistan.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) expressed a similar assessment during an on-air discussion with “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream.
Sen. Tom Cotton: "I'm deeply worried that ISIS from Afghanistan will end up targeting Americans sooner rather than later." pic.twitter.com/Fnn3UWKBiB
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 24, 2024
“I’m quite worried, Shannon, as you saw what ISIS from Afghanistan was able to do in Moscow a couple days ago,” he said. “This is the unfortunate echo of President Biden’s chaotic and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. It’s the same group that killed 13 Americans.”
According to Rubio, the pieces are already being put in place for a deadly ISIS-K attack “here in the homeland.”
1He explained: “I think we should be very concerned as the FBI director confirmed to me that there is a wing — there is a trafficking network out there that specializes in moving people. They do it for profit, moving people and migrants around the world, including across our southern border, who have links to ISIS.”
While he stopped short of describing the situation as “an imminent threat to the U.S.,” Rubio asserted that “common sense tells you” the potential for disaster is real.
“If they could do what they did in Moscow in the United States, they would do it in a heartbeat,” he declared. “They want to do it.”
Highlighting his opposition to the current administration, Rubio noted that “ISIS was basically out of business” when former President Donald Trump was in office but has “reconstituted themselves” since Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal.
“These guys have found a place to operate from,” he said. “They need real estate. They need land and places where they can organize and do external plotting. Now, it’s a lot easier for them to get into Iran. It’s a lot easier for them to get into Russia and do these things. But their aspirations go beyond Russia and Iran. They would love to do what they did in Moscow here inside the United States. And it’s something we have to be very vigilant about when we have a border in which 9 million people have come across in the last three years.”
