Off the wire
• Chinese vice president meets Polish foreign minister  • Bulgaria sends frigate to participate in NATO operation in Mediterranean  • Urgent: 1 killed, 8 buried as cliff collapses in Yogyakarta, Indonesia  • Jordan signs 120 mln USD loan deal to address energy needs  • Political advisors brainstorm on next five-year plan  • China to invest more in people's livelihood  • World's renowned cyclist to lead 1,500km race in Vietnam  • China Focus: China capital market to fund innovative firms  • Urgent: Explosion kills 14, injures 48 in Nigeria's Borno state: security source  • French president picks new faces in minor gov't reshuffle  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Local newspapers see IS penetration in Afghanistan as attempt to replace Taliban

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Amid reported infiltration of militants loyal to the extremist Iraq-based Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan and challenging the Taliban in parts of the conflict- ridden country, local newspapers on Wednesday termed the IS emergence as an attempt to replace the Taliban in the country.

Terming the Taliban in Afghanistan as a foreign-sponsored force, the Daily Afghanistan in its editorial questioned "whether the Taliban project is nearing to end," adding that the Taliban leadership in a letter sent to IS chief Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi recently warned the like-minded group against interfering into Afghanistan.

Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi declared himself as caliph of Muslims while the Taliban elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar described himself as "Amirul Momenin" which means "supreme leader of the Muslims" which is superior to caliph position.

"If IS created any problem in Afghanistan, all Muslims throughout the world would get disappointed," the Taliban warned in the letter, according to the newspaper.

Bloody clashes have also been reported between the Taliban and IS supporters over the past couple of months in parts of Afghanistan including the eastern Nangarhar province over the past couple of months which reportedly forced hundreds of families to leave for safer places.

"IS seems to be a new force to replace the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Taliban outfit would lose its military and political influence with the emergence of IS fighters in the country," Daily Afghanistan said in its editorial.

"Do IS and the Taliban fight in same territory" is the headline of editorial of another newspaper Etilaat-e-Roz published on Wednesday.

Although the Taliban and IS both are terrorist groups, they cannot live alongside each others due to differences of opinion, the daily Etilaat-e-Roz wrote in its editorial.

"The emergence of IS and its increasing activities and recruiting fighters in Afghanistan virtually means reduction of Taliban influence in Afghanistan," it observed. Endi