ISIS-Khorasan attempted suicide attack in India last year but failed: US official

Russel Travers, Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of Director of National Intelligence, said the Khorasan group of the ISIS or the ISIS-K is a concerning group for the US.

"Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern, probably in the neighbourhood of 4,000 individuals or so," Travers said while responding to a question asked by US Senator Maggie Hassan.

"They have attempted to certainly inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan. They attempted last year to conduct a suicide attack in India. It failed," he said.

The Senator shared a video of the interaction with Travers and tweeted: "Last month in Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. military and embassy personnel shared with me their concerns that ISIS-K is a growing threat and wants to strike our country. Today, I asked National Counterterrorism Center Director Travers what is being done to mitigate this threat."

ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a US raid recently.

US President Donald Trump made the announcement of his death late last month.

Islamic State has announced Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi as its new leader following the death of  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The group has also confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in its newly released message, reports said. 

Baghdadi and ISIS:

After heading the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), also known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in a statement on 8 April 2013, al-Baghdadi had announced the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – alternatively translated from the Arabic as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In June 2014, ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate and al-Baghdadi was named its caliph, to be known as "Caliph Ibrahim", and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was renamed the Islamic State.

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was designated by the United States Department of State as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist who was "responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder of numerous civilian hostages from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States".