{"id":70790,"date":"2018-01-30T21:10:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T21:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/30\/stepped-up-violence-alternately-claimed-by-isis-and-taliban\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:02:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:02:03","slug":"stepped-up-violence-alternately-claimed-by-isis-and-taliban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/30\/stepped-up-violence-alternately-claimed-by-isis-and-taliban\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepped up violence alternately claimed by ISIS and Taliban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISLAMABAD \u2014 The Islamic State group and the Taliban are competing to take credit for a horrific spike in violence in Afghanistan over the last month, and analysts say both insurgent groups are growing in strength as security forces wither under their relentless attacks and a feuding government struggles to win over citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, the two insurgent groups embrace different agendas and are at war with each other as well as the Afghan government, analysts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recent large-scale attacks, which have included both suicide bombings and small arms fire, have left nearly 200 people dead and hundreds more wounded. Insurgents have targeted seemingly heavily secure areas in the heart of the Afghan capital, including an Afghan military academy on Monday and a hotel, owned by the government and frequented by foreigners, earlier this month. Using an ambulance to hide their deadly cargo, insurgents slipped passed checkpoints in Kabul\u2019s heavily fortified center on Saturday to kill more than 100 people. They also targeted an international aid organization in eastern Jalalabad and a Shiite cultural center in Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afghan Security Forces seem powerless against the onslaught.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/28\/afghanistan-says-death-toll-from-kabul-bombing-rises-to-103\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18028165021849.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Afghanistan says death toll from Kabul bombing rises to 103<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Afghan authorities have raised the death toll from Saturday\u2019s suicide bombing in Kabul to 103, as hundreds of people gathered for funerals or awaited word of loved ones outside hospitals and morgues.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Insurgents share the same goal of delegitimizing the governments they are fighting against, said Andrew Wilder, vice president of Asia programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace. However, in Afghanistan the similarity between IS and the Taliban ends there. Beyond toppling the Afghan government, the Islamic State affiliate and the Taliban have divergent goals, and where the Taliban are seen as possible negotiation partners in a search for peace, the ISIS is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two groups have occasionally clashed on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Taliban and IS are clearly competitors in the Afghan arena,\u201d said Thomas Ruttig, whose Afghan Analysts network has deep knowledge of the country and has conducted nationwide studies into a myriad of issues confounding the country, including ISIS and Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Taliban I see as \u2018national Islamists\u2019 while the IS is \u2018Internationalist,\u2019\u201d he said, dismissing reports of collaboration between the two insurgent groups, attributing them to rumors and bickering in northern Afghanistan within the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruttig said Taliban fighters in northern Afghanistan recently flew the ISIS flag after the Taliban leadership ordered them to hand over their tax collection revenue to the governing Taliban shura or council. A major source of revenue for the Taliban is the tax or tolls they charge local residents for safe passage or to move legal as well as illegal commodities to market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe groups in the north are a separate phenomenon. There, Taliban commanders have switched to use IS insignia, but the trigger was conflict over transferring taxes to the central leadership,\u201d said Ruttig.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/29\/isis-attack-on-military-academy-in-afghan-capital-kills-11\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18029255885866.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">ISIS attack on military academy in Afghan capital kills 11<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Islamic State militants attacked Afghan soldiers guarding a military academy in the capital on Monday, killing at least 11 troops and wounding 16.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brian Glyn Williams, author of \u201cCounter Jihad, The American Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria,\u201d buttressed reports of the enmity that characterizes the Taliban\/IS relationship, saying, \u201ctheir relationship is more defined by open warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While loosely constructed, the Taliban since the death of its supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar several years ago are mostly comprised of ethnic Pashtuns and Arab speaking nationals with ties to al-Qaida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The strongest fighting force within the Taliban is the Haqqani network, which has been blamed for the most audacious attacks in Kabul. The Haqqani network has historical ties to Pakistan\u2019s powerful ISI spy agency and both the United States and Afghanistan accuse Pakistan of providing sanctuary for Taliban fighters, a claim Islamabad denies. Pakistan in turn has blamed some of the most horrific attacks in Pakistan on ISIS affiliate insurgents in Afghanistan, accusing Kabul of allowing them space to plot their attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, the ISIS affiliate known as IS in Khorasan Province, named for the ancient region that once included Afghanistan, parts of Iran and Central Asia, is a toxic mix of disgruntled Taliban, ferocious Pakistani Taliban, who have sworn allegiance to ISIS against Pakistan, as well as Uzbeks, mostly from the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan terror group.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/30\/taliban-assail-trumps-rejection-of-talks-vow-to-fight-on\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18029648769689.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Taliban assail Trump&#8217;s rejection of talks, vow to fight on<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Taliban are assailing President Donald Trump\u2019s rejection of peace talks, interpreting his assertion that \u201cthere\u2019s no talking to the Taliban\u201d as a dictate to the Afghan government.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The success of the U.S. and its allies in driving Islamic State fighters out of Iraq and Syria has pushed many toward Afghanistan, said Williams. Bolstering their ranks, he said, is Afghanistan\u2019s own Uzbek population living in northern Afghanistan, who have been drifting toward the ISIS affiliate as a protracted feud between President Ashraf Ghani and his vice president and Uzbek warlord, Rashid Dostum deepens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dostum has been living in Turkey since last year when he and his bodyguards were accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Ahmad Eshchi, a former ally turned enemy. Ghani prevented Dostum\u2019s return to Afghanistan, refusing to allow his plane to land in northern Mazar-e-Sharif. Dostum\u2019s absence as a strongman for Afghanistan\u2019s Uzbeks has prompted many to join ISIS, said Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said as many as 3,000 Afghan Uzbeks may have joined the ISIS affiliate already believed to have several thousand Uzbeks from central Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The role of Afghanistan\u2019s neighbors further muddies the insurgent landscape, say those familiar with the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan, widely blamed for the Taliban\u2019s longevity as a fighting force, is aided by both Russia and Iran, who fear an ISIS stronghold in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPakistan has a deep interest in ensuring that the Taliban doesn\u2019t partner with (the Islamic State group),\u201d said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson Center. \u201cThere\u2019s good reason to believe that Russia and also Iran have provided levels of support to the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe last thing Russia and Iran want are a resurgent (ISIS) in their broader backyard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Islamic State group and the Taliban are competing to take credit for a horrific spike in violence in Afghanistan over the last month, and analysts say both insurgent groups are growing in strength as security forces wither under their relentless attacks and a feuding government struggles to win over citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":100821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2179],"class_list":["post-70790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XYJY54GUVBBLZNVZIXYVUTI75U","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/30\/stepped-up-violence-alternately-claimed-by-isis-and-taliban\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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