Afghanistan: Islamic State claims Pakistan and Afghanistan for its 'caliphate' --- The Islamic State is challenging the Taliban and al-Qaeda in its Afghanistan and Pakistan heartlands and claiming both countries as part of its ‘caliphate’. -- Islamic Slate leaflets proclaiming the group’s intention to bring its barbaric form of Islam to Pakistan and Afghanistan were posted throughout Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa frontier province, in the last few days, and have also been distributed to nearby Afghan refugee camps. -- The leaflets, published in the local Pashto and Darri languages and bearing the Isil 'Fateh' (victory) flag, said the 'caliphate' it had established in Syria and Iraq extended to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some Muslim central Asian republics. -- They called for unity among Muslims and committed themselves to victory or martyrdom in their fight to recreate the 'caliphate'. -- Islamic Slate leaflets proclaiming the group’s intention to bring its barbaric form of Islam to Pakistan and Afghanistan were posted throughout Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa frontier province, in the last few days, and have also been distributed to nearby Afghan refugee camps. -- The leaflets, published in the local Pashto and Darri languages and bearing the Isil 'Fateh' (victory) flag, said the 'caliphate' it had established in Syria and Iraq extended to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some Muslim central Asian republics. -- They called for unity among Muslims and committed themselves to victory or martyrdom in their fight to recreate the 'caliphate'. -- The group appears to have some powerful allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including one former Guantánamo Bay inmate and some commanders loyal to the Afghan insurgency leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. -- One of the commanders told the BBC earlier this week that he was willing to join Isil if he was convinced they are sincere in reviving the caliphate – the series of Islamic states and empires which flourished in the Middle East and West Asia from the 7th century until the fall of the Ottoman Empire.