Islamic State militants are engaged in a turf war with the Taliban as it tries to establish a “safe haven” in Afghanistan, according a new report released this week by the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon report indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province, a branch of the terrorist organization, is becoming “more operationally active” in Afghanistan.

The Islamic State branch “has progressed from its initial exploratory phase to a point where they are openly fighting the Taliban for the establishment of a safe haven,” the report indicates, adding that the branch has captured some land from the Taliban in the province of Nangarhar.

The report also says that the Islamic State branch is recruiting Taliban defectors who no longer wished to support the group, and that the Afghanistan government was “particularly concerned” about the branch’s rise. The group is viewed as a “serious looming threat,” the report indicates.

The branch claimed responsibility for an improvised explosive device attack against a United Nations vehicle in September, the report says. It also attacked up to 10 checkpoints in a day later that month.

“(The Islamic State branch) represents an emergent competitor to other violent extremist groups that have traditionally operated in Afghanistan; this may result in increased violence among the various extremist groups in 2016,” the Pentagon report states.

The report comes on the heels of President Barack Obama doubling down on his strategy to defeat the Islamic State, which focuses on airstrikes, training and equipping Iraqi and Syrian forces, disrupting the group’s finances and finding a diplomatic solution to the Syrian civil war.

But this offers evidence that shows the group appears to be growing in strength and influence outside its strongholds of Iraq and Syria, where much of the global anti-ISIS efforts are focused.

In October, President Barack Obama announced that 9,800 American troops would remain in Afghanistan for most of 2016. That number is slated to drop to 5,500 by the end of next year. Their main missions are training and assisting Afghanistan forces, as well as counterrorism.

The State Department warns Americans not to visit Afghanistan, citing an “extremely unstable” security situation. The Pentagon report says the situation worsened in the second half of this year, as various insurgents executed more effective attacks against Afghanistan forces, or ANDSF.

“Although the ANDSF maintain a significant capability advantage over the insurgency, insurgents are improving in their ability to find and exploit ANDSF vulnerabilities, making the security situation still fragile in key areas and at risk of deterioration in other places,” the report says.