FOR THE TALIBAN, DAESH IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER: Another Friday, another horrific bombing in a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan. On October 8, a suicide bomber killed dozens in Kunduz, and yesterday another killed dozens in Kandahar. In both cases, Daesh’s Afghan affiliate claimed responsibility. These criminal actions constitute a real threat not only to Afghanistan, but even more so to the Taliban. Their government is very young but it has struggled to uphold one key aspect of their rule: security. The Taliban also have another big problem: Analysts have long suspected and the Taliban have now admitted that there could well be a Daesh penetration of their own ranks. They have vowed to weed out these elements and to destroy Daesh in Afghanistan. But, currently, things on the security front do not look promising. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]
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