The Taliban today undoubtedly has a stronger hold over how the US militarily plans to withdraw from the conflict in Afghanistan. This raises questions about the continuing challenges to security in South Asia in particular, the influence of IS Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s Afghanistan avatar, and its rise both as an ISIS-aligned entity and a big-tent brand for various jihadist groups in the country. As the ‘Khorasan’ project of ISIS gets more attention, and the US and the Taliban stand amidst a winded peace negotiation, this paper looks into how the IS-K is taking advantage of political uncertainty in Afghanistan to expand its footprint not only in the country but in the entire region.