Afghan Taliban - ISIS alliance rumours, an effort by Afghan intelligence to malign movement

Afghan Taliban - ISIS alliance rumours, an effort by Afghan intelligence to malign movement

KABUL - The top leadership of Taliban in Afghanistan has reportedly initiated efforts to end conflict with the Islamic State, also known as Da’ish.

According to Khaama Press, a source privy to the development said that the Taliban leader had also instructed his fighters to not attack IS militants.

Citing a source privy to the development, the local news outlet claimed Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada said that the Taliban and IS-led insurgency are ‘similar’ and therefore the conflict between the groups should end.

The move came months after a United Nations report said that a combined force of Taliban and “self-proclaimed” Islamic State militants killed at least 36 people in what may amount to war crimes during a raid on a northern Afghan town in August.

A spokesperson for the Taliban, however, called the UN report “baseless allegations” and “false claims”. Zabihullah Mujahid repeated an earlier statement that the Taliban had killed 28 pro-government militia fighters, but no civilians were harmed. He also denied that Islamic State was involved in the fighting.

On the other hand, Da’ish also released a statement saying it had led the attack and killed about 54 Shias.