Unwanted Interlopers
"They (IS loyalists) came in on many white pickup trucks mounted with big machine guns and fought the Taliban. The Taliban could not resist and fled."
"Unlike the Taliban, they (IS) don't force villagers to feed and house them. Instead, they have lots of cash in their pockets and spend it on food and luring young villagers to join them."
Haji Abdul Jan, tribal elder, Achin district, Afghanistan
Islamic State loyalists are popping up everywhere; in Nigeria with Boko Haram whose version of pure Islam of the 7th Century focusing on bloody conquest and subjugation of both Muslims and minority tribal-ethnic groups and religions whipped into submission through the terror of witnessing atrocities and mass slaughter suit the link perfectly. Islamic State jihadis have spread in the Sinai Peninsula, in Gaza next to Israel, and into Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.
It is well enough acknowledged that sympathizers as well as future jihadists preparing to launch themselves abroad to join Islamic State have infiltrated Europe. From Sweden and Norway to the Netherlands and France, Britain and Spain, Islamic State has an honoured presence compelling Muslim youth to declare their loyalty to the brave new world of a restored caliphate promised by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Of especial attraction it seems is the casual brutality that horrifies the civilized world.
And now, Afghanistan has its very own contingent, opposing the Taliban, the homegrown jihadis who don't fund themselves through oil revenues, sacking museums of their historical artifacts for sale on the world's black markets, kidnapping of Westerners for ransom, and looting the banks of cities taken in Iraq and Syria, but by convincing subsistence Afghan farmers to grow poppies for narcotics production, funding Taliban enclaves.
The new loyalists ensconced in Afghanistan represent for the most part former Taliban disheartened by the lack of success in returning the Taliban to full power in Kabul. Among them are dozens of foreign jihadis as well. The infamous black flag of Islamic State flies in some areas while foreign terrorists take over local mosques to preach using interpreters. Hundreds of militants from around the world have long established themselves along the Afghan-Pakistan border; their origins are not well known in their new support of Islamic State.
According to local officials such as council chief Ahmad Ali Hazrat, and Nangarhar member of parliament Haji Hazrat Ali, Islamic State-dedicated fighters have taken territory from the Taliban in six of the 21 Nangarhar districts.
Islamic State has an especial appeal to its Afghan supporters. The ruthlessness of its rampaging campaign has endeared it to its followers. The beheading of several Taliban commanders and the success realized by ISIL in capturing significant geographical areas of Iraq and Syria has impressed its admirers while underlining the risks that Afghan government officials face. The U.S.-led training mission is left with the question as to whether Islamic State is capable of gaining a foothold of significance in Afghanistan.
For the time being, the Taliban is dominant in the country of their aspirational retaking and which gave birth to their movement. Islamic State loyalists in Nangarhar are regarded as having excellent organization, to match the level of their funding, both of which are puzzles to Afghan government authorities facing yet another hurdle in their attempts to normalize a country that has never achieved the normalization of peace and security other than sporadically, between invasions.
Tribal elder Haji Abdul Hakim from Kot district speaks of Islamic State fighters distributing pamphlets "to warn people against many crimes". One smuggled letter from the Pachir Agam district was said to have come directly from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State caliph, self-styled though he may be. Exhorting "all Mujahideen fighters [are invited] to carry out this holy war under one flag, which is the Islamic State".
For their part, the Taliban has issued its own warning to Islamic State to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan. While admitting they have lost ground in Nangarhar, they claim their rivals are not represented by Islamic State. "They are thieves and thugs ... We will soon clear those areas and free the villagers", Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated with confidence. Clashes between the Taliban and Islamic State offshoots have been confirmed by government forces in Nangarhar.
While Malek Islam, the district chief of Achin claimed Afghan forces hadn't confronted Islamic State fighters who were "almost everywhere in the district", but targeting the Taliban. "They [Islamic State] haven't attacked us, and we haven't engaged them either", Islam confided speaking by phone from Achin's district center, held by the government. According to Interior Minister Noor ul-Haq Olomi, though, police had indeed engaged the militants.
"We have launched a couple of clearance operations in some districts of Nangarhar and we will continue to do so to deny any terrorist group territory", stated Interior Minister Olomi.
Labels: Afghanistan, Conflict, Islamic State, Taliban
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, June 30, 2015
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