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| Afghanistan | |
| ISIS and Taliban end infighting as Afghan and US forces step up raids | |
| 2016-08-09 | |
| The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group and the Taliban militants have reportedly ended infighting amid growing pressures as a result of the Afghan and US forces raids during the recent months. The infighting among the two militant groups which erupted over a year ago reportedly ended during the recent weeks as the loyalists of the ISIS terrrorist group as well as the Taliban militants received major setbacks in the restive provinces. The commandos of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces and the US special forces in Afghanistan launched a major operation against the loyalists of ISIS terrorist group in Nangarhar provnce more than two weeks ago. The operations were launched months after the Obama administration granted broader role to the US forces to target the ISIS loyalists in Afghanistan. The broader role approval by Obama administration came as ISIS loyalists attempted to expand foothold in Afghanistan by successfully consolidating operations with the main terror group in Iraq and Syria. “They fought deadly battles with the Taliban before. But over the past two months, there has been no fighting among them,” Gen. Mohammad Zaman Waziri, who commands Afghan troops in the east, told the Wall Street Journal. The top U.S. military commander in the country, Army Gen. John Nicholson, said the cease-fire between the militant groups in Kunar didn’t reflect a broader agreement. “There’s still a conflict even though they may have a local cease-fire in place,” he said. “There’s always been a live-and-let-live dimension to some of the social fabric.” For now, local officials are skeptical the cease-fire will grow into an actual battlefield alliance. For one thing, ideologies differ. The Taliban want foreign forces to leave Afghanistan and Shariah law to be established, while Islamic State wants to create a global caliphate. Neither wants to relinquish control to the other group. “The Taliban’s stance is that we are the only group and if you fight you should fight under us,” the governor of Kunar, Wahidullah Kalimzai, said. “They see themselves as the owners of the war.” The Taliban group and ISIS loyalists declared jihad against eacah in mid-April last year as the two groups attempted to gain more prominance in the so-called holy war in Afghanistan. Tensions among the two militant groups intensified earlier last year after Abdu Bakar Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS called Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar “a fool and illiterate warlord”.
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| Posted by:badanov |