SUMMARY

Mullah Abdol Rauf Khadim was a former Taleban commander who fell out with the group in early 2015 before joining the Islamic State (IS). Disputing the ownership of leadership of militancy in Afghanistan, the Forces of Mullah Abdol Rauf Khadim started fighting the Taleban movement in Rauf Khadim's stronghold Kajaki in Hilmand province in early January 2015.

On 10 January 2015, Rauf Khadim pledged allegiance to IS and on 26 January, the Khorasan Province of the Islamic State was announced. Rauf Khadim was appointed its deputy governor, and his forces subsequently became part of the IS in Afghanistan. The group continued to fight the Taleban, but as part of the non-state conflict between IS and the Taleban (see IS - Taleban.

The non-state conflict between the Forces of Mullah Abdol Rauf Khadim and Taleban is first included in UCDP data in 2015. In January that year clashes took place in Hilmand, resulting in at least 50 battle-related deaths.