Taliban 2.0 losing its grip on Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Taliban faces growing opposition to its three-year post-conflict rule, rising threats that are gnawing at the stability the one-time insurgent group has sought to impose on the nation.

The Islamist regime appeared to be riding high just recently in celebrating the third anniversary of its second time in power with a military parade showcasing fighter aircraft and weapons seized after the US-led coalition withdrew in chaos in August 2021.

But behind the celebration and military flexing, the Taliban is contending with potent challenges on multiple fronts. Crucially, the Taliban has wholly failed to rein in the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) jihadist group, which seeks to create a caliphate across South and Central Asia.

IS-K was responsible for the deadly attack outside of Kabul’s airport on August 26, 2021, that killed 170 Afghans and 13 US military personnel amid the chaotic withdrawal of Western forces.

IS-K continues to carry out destabilizing terror attacks, including an attack on the Hazara neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul in January, a shooting that killed six Shiite minority members at a mosque in Herat in late April and the murder of three Spanish tourists in Bamiyan in May.

Many also suspect IS-K was responsible for an explosion last week that injured 11 people in a crowded market in Kabul.

IS-K is growing in strength. The United Nations warned in June it was recruiting disaffected Taliban members and has reportedly infiltrated the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) and government ministries, as seen in the arrest of 20 members of the GDI in July over suspected links to the terror group.

The Taliban’s desire for international legitimacy has been mocked by IS-K, which has