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FILE: Oct. 12, 2014: Men prepare to set fire to an Islamic State flag during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan.(REUTERS)

The Islamic State terror group may be making inroads in Afghanistan just weeks after the U.S. ended its 13-year combat mission, with a former Guantanamo Bay detainee said to be involved in the recruiting effort.

The recruiter has been identified in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province as Mullah Abdul Rauf, a former Taliban commander released from Guantanamo in 2007, under the George W. Bush administration.

"People are saying that he has raised black flags and even has tried to bring down white Taliban flags in some areas," Saifullah Sanginwal, a tribal leader in Sangin district, recently told The Associated Press.

The troubling reports follow warnings from Republican lawmakers that drawing down too quickly in Afghanistan could leave the country vulnerable, just like in Iraq where the Islamic State trampled a string of northern villages and cities after the U.S. withdrawal. While the U.S. has since returned to Iraq to bolster that country's fight against the powerful terror network, the Islamic State -- or ISIS -- reportedly has expanded its territory in next-door Syria despite a U.S. bombing campaign there.

An emergence in volatile Afghanistan would pose another major security challenge for the U.S.

But while the Obama administration has acknowledged signs of Islamic State allegiance, or at least sympathy, in the country, officials say they have no solid evidence that Afghan residents have joined the Islamic State.

Weve seen the rhetorical messages of support in southern Afghanistan, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters recently. We continue to watch for signs that these statements could amount to something more than just rhetorical support. Well continue watching.

Rauf is targeting disaffected Taliban fighters and reportedly offering them $500 a month. But such efforts will be difficult, considering the Talibans 20-year stronghold in Afghanistan, particularly in the southern provinces.

Sanginwal said hes heard reports that 19 or 20 people have been killed in fighting between the Taliban and Islamic State.

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NEXT STOP AFGHANISTAN? ISIS backers reportedly arrive in country