MONTHS after the Taliban took power from the American-backed secular forces that ruled Afghanistan, the new government is facing a new kind of insurgency: ISIS.
We haven’t heard about ISIS for quite a while. The last time they were in the news was in Syria, trying to overthrow Bashar Al Assad’s government.
When Trump had reportedly cut off funding to certain white helmets during his presidency, the ISIS forces disappeared with them. And now they’re back, coincidentally right around the same time, when the Taliban kicked out the Americans.
Rumors also say that ISIS came out of the jails that the Taliban had liberated when they took over, while other reports claim that ISIS forces are mostly foreign in origin. Whatever the situation may be, they are now active in Afghanistan and have begun contesting the Taliban for power.
The Taliban is a local group with nationalist sympathies, whereas ISIS wants to create a modern day international Caliphate. Both are operating with their own agendas, with different supporters backing each group. How well they perform will determine the future of Taliban rule over Afghanistan as well as the political situation in Central Asia.
For now, though, ISIS hasn’t been idle, launching attacks on Taliban affiliates whenever they get their chance. For their part, the Taliban began dealing with their new situation using the death squad strategy, and ISIS suspects keep ending up dead in cases of extrajudicial killings which the Taliban actively deny they are involved.
As of now, ISIS has become an annoyance to the Taliban, and the latter have begun reacting appropriately to the former. Thus, we have the next phase of Afghanistan’s history – which is ironically not that different from Afghanistan’s past./PN
