A surprise US strategy in Afghanistan includes backing Taliban
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KABUL - Top US generals believe the rivalry and clashes between the Taliban and Islamic State-Khorasan will help counter the growing influence in Afghanistan of the terror group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to media reports.
Intensified efforts to root out the Islamic State in Afghanistan are making progress in some areas but have failed to prevent the group from maintaining a foothold in the country, according to the latest US intelligence estimates, VOA reported.
Islamic State-Khorasan is believed to have more than 1,000 fighters, including local Afghans, Pakistanis and Uzbeks. Most of them are in southern Nangarhar province and a small number in eastern Kunar province.
Over the past few months, the US may have been able to turn the rivalry between the Taliban and Islamic State to its advantage, the report said.
“The Taliban are fighting ISIS, and we encourage that because ISIS needs to be destroyed,” said Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan.
In northern Jowzjan province, the combination of what US officials described as a series of “intensive operations” against Islamic State-Khorasan, along with a Taliban ground campaign, appears to have paid off. The Taliban recently announced that all the northern provinces had been purged of Daesh militias.