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One year and one week ago,President Ashraf Ghani took power in Afghanistan. A former anthropologist, his election was the first peacefully transfer of power since the the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. But the Taliban continues to fight the Afghan state. At his inauguration in Kabul, and President Ghani announced he would open negotiations to close the fighting with the Taliban,saying he was tired of years of war. Pakistan joined the peace talks as well, but the negotiations crashed less than a year later when it was revealed that the former head of the Taliban had actually died two years before. Now a recent leader, or Mullah Akhtar Mansour, is trying to hold the group together, in part by returning to the battle field.
But Mullah Mansour has not yet unified his forces. A report from United Nations issued final week warns the Islamic State is winning adherents in Afghanistan as some defectors from the Taliban re-brand themselves as ISIS allies.
Hassan Abbas, and a professor at the National Defense University and a senior advisor to the Asia Society,says there are some reports of soldiers returning from Syria and Iraq to Afghanistan. While it is difficult to verify the numbers, Dr. Abbas says it would not surprise him if more soldiers from the Islamic State made their way to Afghanistan in the next year.
What you'll learn from this segment:
Whether peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have completely failed at this point.
The connection between ISIS and the Taliban.
How the clash may play out going forward.
Source: wnyc.org