The Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) has elevated a former Afghan neurosurgeon, known by his nom de guerre “Doctor Hanzala,” as one of its most senior operational commanders, according to a biographical profile published in the group’s central media outlet Al-Naba.
The publication describes Hanzala as deputy chief for Kabul operations and a close confidant of the late IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to whom he reportedly relayed operational updates from Afghanistan.
Born in 1986 in Logar Province, Hanzala moved with his family to Peshawar during adolescence before returning to Kabul to pursue medical studies. He graduated in neurosurgery with high distinction, ranking third in his class, but abandoned a promising professional career to join militant networks around 2009. Initial involvement is believed to have been with the Taliban or the Haqqani Network, after which he gravitated toward transnational jihadist groups.
The account states that his militant trajectory deepened following his capture by Afghan security forces and a three-year prison term. During incarceration, he allegedly forged ties with Islamic State operatives and prepared to align with ISKP upon release.
His first major operation under the ISKP banner was the 2017 storming of the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul, claimed as retaliation for Baghdad’s victory in Mosul. Subsequent attacks attributed to him include the Kabul military airport blast, rocket strikes on the Presidential Palace, and the high-casualty assault on the Afghan Ministry of Interior carried out by 10 suicide attackers.
The biography positions Hanzala as a pivotal figure in ISKP’s leadership structure, symbolizing the group’s ability to draw recruits from educated and professional backgrounds into its insurgency.
