From the Taliban Frying Pan to the Islamic State Fire

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Foreign Policy, 27 September 2016

Heather Barr quotes AAN’s Borhan Osman in her article on IS in Afghanistan:

“The Taliban consistently articulates goals that solely pertain to its quest to regain control of Afghanistan. … This is in sharp contrast to the global ambitions of the Islamic State, which announced the establishment of its own, global caliphate and called on all Muslims to pledge allegiance to its leader. As Borhan Osman, an Afghan analyst, observed, the Taliban has welcomed foreign militants on the condition that they obey the Taliban on Afghan soil, but Islamic State “is an organisation claiming jihadist supremacy over all militant groups in the world, and would be very unlikely to listen to the Taliban.”