November 6, 2016
WHERE THE WAR ENDS:
Taliban Commanders Key to Peace With Afghanistan : A factionalized Taliban adds another dynamic to a complicated peace process in Afghanistan. (Shawn Snow, November 03, 2016, The Diplomat)
Since the revelation of the death of Mullah Omar in 2015, the Taliban has disintegrated into multiple factions, at times even warring against each other. The selection of Mullah Mansour as supreme leader after Omar's death failed to heal rifts within the organization, and his sudden death in a U.S. drone strike in May has only added to the Taliban's existential crisis.Various Taliban field commanders, disgruntled with the disarray of the Taliban and battlefield setbacks, have flocked to competing groups such as Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, adding to the ever-confusing battlefield landscape that is Afghanistan.Faced with a potential recruitment shortage and further splintering, former Taliban leaders such as Agha Jan Motasim, a former Taliban minister, and Sayed Muhammad Tayeb Agha, the former Taliban chief negotiator, have called on Haibatalluah Akhundzada, Mansour's replacement as Taliban supreme leader, to negotiate with the Afghan government and implement reforms in the movement.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 6, 2016 8:58 AM