Are the Taliban and Isis on the same side?
A SPLINTER group of terrorist organisation Isis has claimed to be behind the attack on Kabul airport, amid tense evacuation efforts.
Yet, having been targeted by the US military, Isis-K are still believed to be operating out of Taliban controlled territory. Here we explain the relationships between the two groups.
Are the Taliban and Isis on the same side?
Both the Taliban and Isis are Islamist extremist groups who wish to form states under Sharia law.
However, they are not actually allies and have fought since 2015 when Isis moved into Afghanistan.
At the time, they formed the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (known as Isis-K) and attracted defectors from the Taliban who didn’t see their own organisation as extreme enough.
Isis-K is a self-proclaimed branch of Isil active in South and Central Asia, though ISIL denies any connection, according to a post.
In 2015, it appointed former Pakistan Taliban chief Hafiz Saeed Khan as its leader and former Afghan Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Aliza as its deputy.
In early 2021, the Taliban claimed to have wiped out the entire Isis-K presence in the northern province of Jowzjan.
But, despite reports of dwindling numbers in Taliban territory, the two groups continue to be at odds due to differing ideologies and bitter competition for territory in the Khorasan area and beyond.
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What is the difference between the Taliban and Isis?
Unlike the Taliban, whose interest is confined to Afghanistan, Isis is a network of groups which seeks to carry out attacks on Western, international and humanitarian targets.
In Afghanistan their splinter group, Isis-K, has been blamed for some of the worst atrocities in the country – with responsibility for hundreds of attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2015 and 2017.
They also claimed responsibility for the horrific attacks at Kabul airport in August 2021.
Prior to the attack, Isis-K accused the Taliban of abandoning Jihad and the battlefield in favour of a negotiated peace settlement that was drawn up with former US President Donald Trump in Doha.
As a result, Isis militants now represent a major security challenge for the incoming Taliban government, something the Taliban leadership shares with Western intelligence agencies.
Speaking after the Kabul airport incident, President Joe Biden pledged to "hunt down" the attackers as he ordered his military to plan strikes.
He said: "Know this: we will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."