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Rise of IS in Afghanistan

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July 04, 2018

What is the issue?

  • A recent suicide attack carried out by the ISIS in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad has killed 19 people (mostly religious minorities).
  • Islamic State’s growing presence in the country can undo Kabul’s peace moves with Taliban and other insurgents.

What is the context of the recent blast?

  • ISIS - The IS set up its Afghan affiliate as a South Asian outpost when its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria came under strain in 2016.
  • Afghanistan proved to be a relatively easier terrain for the IS to recruit fighters from and occupy turf due to its deserted and remote topography.
  • When the government and the Taliban were fighting each other, the IS built a network in eastern Afghanistan and started targeting minorities.
  • Most of its previous attacks were aimed at the Shia minority, the present one was targeted at Sikhs and Hindus. 

                                     

  • Attack - Afghanistan has a small Sikh and Hindu population totalling to about 10,000, who live concentrated in cities like Kabul and Jalalabad.
  • A bus ferrying a group of Sikhs and Hindus, who were heading to meet the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, was attacked in Jalalabad by the IS.
  • The attack killed the only Sikh candidate running for upcoming elections, which speaks volumes on the current plight of minorities in Afghanistan.

How is the overall political situation in Afghanistan?

  • Backdrop - The Afghani government has been trying to pilot a peace initiative with all the armed groups in the country in recent times.
  • Taliban, which is the strongest armed group, has been responding positively although it has refused to drop arms for now.
  • Significantly, in the run-up to Id last month, the government had announced a unilateral ceasefire, which drew a truce from the Taliban.
  • Challenge - The government’s effort to reign in armed groups faces its most formidable challenge in the eastern provinces due to the rise of IS.   
  • The IS, as per its worldwide stand of not engaging with any government has refused to respond to Afghan government’s outreach.
  • Contrarily, it has been increasingly attacking schools and other targets, claiming it as a response to U.S. and Afghani military operations against it.

How does the future look?

  • Afghanistan is struck up in an overstretched civil strife for about 4 decades now, right from the days of Soviet invasion in the 1980s.
  • The war with Taliban, which controls almost of half of the country’s territory, has presently reached a stalemate and peace is being explored.
  • In this context, the rise of IS might disturb the present fragile truce and force the country back to total chaos.
  • While the U.S. and Afghani forces are stepping up the offensive in the eastern provinces, the lethal potency of IS only seems to be growing.   

 

Source: The Hindu

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