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The capture of Tora Bora by Daesh: How will it affect the Afghan quagmire?
Global Village Space |
News Analysis |
Islamic State militants, under pressure from Afghan and U.S. forces, have seized a new stronghold in Tora Bora, a mountainous area dotted with caves along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
The militants seized the territory from the Taliban last week after days of heavy fighting, in a show of strength just two months after the US military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on a nearby Daesh stronghold.
“We are in Tora Bora but this is not the end. The plan is to take more territory from the government and the Taliban.”
– Abu Omar Khorasani
Abu Omar Khorasani, an Islamic State commander in Afghanistan, told Reuters that his fighters had seized Tora Bora and were also battling government troops, who are backed by US ground troops and aircraft.
Read more: ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi killed: Who will be his successor?
Government forces have launched new operations targeting ISIS, but more fighters are being recruited or crossing the border from Pakistan, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the Nangarhar governor’s office.
First emerging in 2015, IS’s local affiliate has made steady inroads into Afghanistan, overrunning large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and challenging the bigger Taliban militant movement on their own turf.
The fall of the Tora Bora has also prompted heated discussion in the Afghan parliament, with lawmakers warning the government of growing IS activity in eastern Afghanistan.
Afghan quagmire: No end in sight
Afghanistan has been marred by violence and destruction since 1979 Soviet invasion. Decades of unrest and violence have wreaked havoc across the landscape of a country which is also labeled as the graveyard of empires.
The post-2001 Afghanistan was overshadowed by the conflict between Taliban and US-backed Afghan National Army (ANA). Taliban made rapid advances and exposed the weaknesses in the fragile Afghan military. Daesh emerged in Afghanistan in 2015 and consists primarily of former Pakistani and Afghan Taliban members.
ISIS captured the strategic mountainous region after weeks of fighting with Taliban forces in the area which had to retreat in the face of a relentless assault by IS militants.
Interestingly, Daesh in Khorasan province, (alias of IS in Afghanistan) not only targets the Afghan security forces but also Taliban fighters in the country. Videos of IS fighters executing Taliban fighters which emerged in 2015 caught everyone by surprise. The rise of this notorious terrorist organization has posed a serious threat to Taliban who considers themselves as the only legitimate insurgent group in the country.
The rise of Islamic State in Afghanistan deteriorated the violent situation in Afghanistan and has exacerbated the violence in the country. It has emerged as yet another foe to be reckoned with.
Read more: “The US created ISIS,” says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Has the rise of IS in Afghanistan pushed Taliban and the Afghan government on the same side of the isle?
Read full article:
The capture of Tora Bora by Daesh: How will it affect the Afghan quagmire?
Global Village Space |
News Analysis |
Islamic State militants, under pressure from Afghan and U.S. forces, have seized a new stronghold in Tora Bora, a mountainous area dotted with caves along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
The militants seized the territory from the Taliban last week after days of heavy fighting, in a show of strength just two months after the US military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on a nearby Daesh stronghold.
“We are in Tora Bora but this is not the end. The plan is to take more territory from the government and the Taliban.”
– Abu Omar Khorasani
Abu Omar Khorasani, an Islamic State commander in Afghanistan, told Reuters that his fighters had seized Tora Bora and were also battling government troops, who are backed by US ground troops and aircraft.
Read more: ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi killed: Who will be his successor?
Government forces have launched new operations targeting ISIS, but more fighters are being recruited or crossing the border from Pakistan, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the Nangarhar governor’s office.
First emerging in 2015, IS’s local affiliate has made steady inroads into Afghanistan, overrunning large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and challenging the bigger Taliban militant movement on their own turf.
The fall of the Tora Bora has also prompted heated discussion in the Afghan parliament, with lawmakers warning the government of growing IS activity in eastern Afghanistan.
Afghan quagmire: No end in sight
Afghanistan has been marred by violence and destruction since 1979 Soviet invasion. Decades of unrest and violence have wreaked havoc across the landscape of a country which is also labeled as the graveyard of empires.
The post-2001 Afghanistan was overshadowed by the conflict between Taliban and US-backed Afghan National Army (ANA). Taliban made rapid advances and exposed the weaknesses in the fragile Afghan military. Daesh emerged in Afghanistan in 2015 and consists primarily of former Pakistani and Afghan Taliban members.
ISIS captured the strategic mountainous region after weeks of fighting with Taliban forces in the area which had to retreat in the face of a relentless assault by IS militants.
Interestingly, Daesh in Khorasan province, (alias of IS in Afghanistan) not only targets the Afghan security forces but also Taliban fighters in the country. Videos of IS fighters executing Taliban fighters which emerged in 2015 caught everyone by surprise. The rise of this notorious terrorist organization has posed a serious threat to Taliban who considers themselves as the only legitimate insurgent group in the country.
The rise of Islamic State in Afghanistan deteriorated the violent situation in Afghanistan and has exacerbated the violence in the country. It has emerged as yet another foe to be reckoned with.
Read more: “The US created ISIS,” says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Has the rise of IS in Afghanistan pushed Taliban and the Afghan government on the same side of the isle?
Read full article:
The capture of Tora Bora by Daesh: How will it affect the Afghan quagmire?
