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FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, Pakistani Taliban patrol in their stronghold of Shawal in Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said in November 2014 there was no Islamic State group presence, only militants using its name. However, a letter written by the federal government a month earlier and later obtained by The Associated Press warned local officials that the Islamic State group had begun courting area militants and that the extremists claimed the support of up to "12,000 followers" in northwest Pakistan. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mahsud, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this file photo taken Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, an Afghan soldier inspects a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan. The country and Pakistan, home to al-Qaida and Taliban militants and the focus of the longest war in U.S. history, face a new, emerging threat from the Islamic State group, officials have told The Associated Press. For now, the Taliban remain the region's most prominent insurgency, with nearly 20 years of experience battling Afghan warlords and international troops. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2011 file photo, a former Taliban fighter places a range of bullets before surrendering it to Afghan authorities, as part of a peace-reconciliation program in Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State group controls a third of both Syria and Iraq, where it declared a caliphate governed by an extremely harsh interpretation of Shariah law and demanded the allegiance of the worlds Muslims. The Taliban, by contrast, are narrowly focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and some leaders have even responded to past peace overtures. (AP Photo/Reza Shirmohammadi, File)(The Associated Press)

In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 photo, foreign security forces arrive at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Analysts and officials said the number of Islamic State supporters in the country and Pakistan remains small and that the group faces resistance from militants with strong tribal links. However, the rise of even a small Islamic State affiliate could further destabilize the region and complicate U.S. and NATO efforts to end the 13-year Afghan war. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)(The Associated Press)

In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 photo, Afghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Analysts and officials said the number of Islamic State supporters in the country and Pakistan remains small and that the group faces resistance from militants with strong tribal links. However, the rise of even a small Islamic State affiliate could further destabilize the region and complicate U.S. and NATO efforts to end the 13-year Afghan war. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)(The Associated Press)

CAMP SHORABAK, Afghanistan Afghanistan and Pakistan, home to al-Qaida and Taliban militants and the focus of the longest war in U.S. history, face a new, emerging threat from the Islamic State group, officials have told The Associated Press.

Disenchanted extremists from the Taliban and other organizations, impressed by the Islamic State group's territorial gains and slick online propaganda, have begun raising its black flag in extremist-dominated areas of both countries.

In Pakistan, an online video purportedly shows militants beheading a man while pledging their allegiance to the IS. In Afghanistan, there have even been reports of militant rivalries, with clashes erupting between Taliban fighters and Islamic State militants.

Analysts and officials say the number of IS supporters in the Afghan-Pakistan region remains small and that the group faces resistance from militants with strong tribal links. However, the rise of even a small Islamic State affiliate could further destabilize the region and complicate U.S. and NATO efforts to end the 13-year Afghan war.

The Taliban remain the region's pre-eminent insurgency, with nearly 20 years of experience battling Afghan warlords and international troops. But the Taliban are "not a particularly sexy ideology or military force, and the risk lies in the Taliban looking increasingly out of date," said a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

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After Mideast gains, Islamic State group reaches to Taliban heartland of Afghanistan, Pakistan