Are Hard-Line Taliban Members Defecting To ISIS Or Merging With Al Qaeda?

Hamdullah Mohib, the National Security Adviser of Afghanistan (NSA) who previously served as the Ambassador to the United States. (Courtesy Afghan Unity Government)

FOX News: Afghanistan security adviser says hard-line Taliban members defecting to ISIS, merging with Al Qaeda

More than 18 years after U.S. forces entered Afghanistan and usurped the Taliban government from power, the country remains a patchwork of progress, pain, and bloodletting.

While the territorial dominance and perpetual attacks orchestrated by the Taliban remains at the forefront of the fragile nation’s woes, the presence of other insurgent groups and blatant threats to U.S. interests also lurk in the periphery.

“Many Taliban commanders, hardliners that did not want to join the peace process. We had intelligence that showed they are going to join ISIS. That threat may increase over a period of time,” Afghan National Security Adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, told Fox News on Tuesday. “For the time being, ISIS is not a strategic threat to us. We have been able to get rid of them in places they have taken hold. But if the peace process goes wrong and doesn’t really integrate all of the Taliban, the hardliners may join ISIS, which is when it will become a strategic threat to us and our international partners.”

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WNU Editor: I now see very little differences between Al Qaeda and the Taliban. And as for ISIS, they continue to grow .... A Look At The ISIS Presence In Afghanistan (NPR).

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