Taliban success in Afghanistan seen as boost for extremists

BEIRUT (AP):

A few days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a convoy of militants drove through the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria in cars bearing the group’s white-and-black flags, honking horns and firing their guns in the air.

The celebrations by an al-Qaida affiliate in a remote corner of war-torn Syria were an expression of the triumph felt by radical Islamic groups from the Gaza Strip to Pakistan and West Africa who see America’s violence-marred exit from Afghanistan as an opportunity to reassert their presence.

For such groups, the chaotic US departure following the collapse of security forces it had trained for two decades is a gift, underlining their message that Washington eventually abandons its allies and that defeating powerful armies is possible with enough patience.

“The success of the Taliban opens the way for radical groups to step up their recruitment operations globally. It is much easier for them now, and there is more receptivity,” said Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an expert on Islamic militants based in Amman, Jordan.

Despite the billions of dollars spent by the U S and NATO over nearly 20 years to build up Afghan security forces, the Taliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan in just over a week amid the US troop pullout. The fundamentalist group swept into Kabul on August 15 after the government collapsed and embattled President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

ESCAPE

Since then, tens of thousands of people desperate to escape a country governed by the Taliban have been trying to flee or already have been evacuated in a mammoth Western airlift.

There are concerns that Afghanistan will once again become a base for militants to plot against the West, much like the September 11, 2001, attacks that triggered the US invasion.

In a twist, the Taliban victory also boosted the fortunes of their rivals in Afghanistan – a local branch of the Islamic State network. On Thursday, the affiliate claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that killed scores of people outside Kabul’s airport, including 13 US service members.

The Taliban now must contend with an emboldened IS, which is challenging their rule with militants that are far more radical. The group’s ranks have been bolstered after the Taliban freed prisoners during an advance through Afghanistan.

The biggest danger, according to the analysts, is in unstable countries with a weak central government and a history of insurgency, such as Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya.

There are echoes of 2014 when the Islamic State group sprang from the chaos of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, seized a giant stretch of territory straddling both countries, and declared a “caliphate” after US-trained Iraqi forces collapsed. Terrorist attacks in Europe and beyond followed before IS was defeated in 2017, but attempts to regroup have been seen in the past two years, with new attacks in Iraq and Syria.

A report to the UN Security Council last week said that the threat to international security from the Islamic State group is rising, pointing to an “alarming” expansion of its affiliates in Africa and its focus on a comeback in Syria and Iraq.

The report said that IS and other terrorist groups have taken advantage of “the disruption, grievances, and development setbacks” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.