Sadly the Islamic terror group ISIS did not go away. Although it might have lost territory in the Middle East and its leadership there destroyed or scattered, its affiliates and copy cat groups have set up shop elsewhere. It’s been known for years that ISIS affiliates are operating in Africa and they’ve brought untold misery to Christian and Muslim populations alike. The world has also known about ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan as they were involved in an attack on a maternity hospital last year in which mothers and newborn babies were murdered.
Now we have seen another atrocity caused by an Islamic group that is, if possible, more mental and rooted in the seventh century than even the Taliban are. This Afghan ISIS, also known as ISIS-K, have carried out a suicide bomb and gun attack in Kabul that has left 13 US service personnel and 72 Afghan civilians dead.
ISIS-K hate the West, but they also hate the Taliban as well. This is because according to some reports, ISIS-K have problems with the Taliban negotiating their return with the Americans. There are also theological differences between ISIS-K and the Taliban as the ISIS groups have their roots in Arab Salfism whereas the Taliban have their roots in Deobandism, a form of conservative Islamic thought that arose in British India in the 19th century.
Afghanistan is slipping into the violent chaos that it was expected to descend into. The Taliban might be back in control of Afghanistan but they are not entirely unopposed by groups from within the country.
The deaths of Afghans, such as the earlier mentioned attack by ISIS-K on a maternity hospital too often have little effect on the Western consciousness. It doesn’t attract the sort of column inches that other stories, maybe less important stories get, but the deaths of US service personnel will get significant coverage especially in the United States. It is to be hoped that these terrible deaths of Allied troops will cause the normally supine US mainstream media to do their damned jobs and ask the appropriately awkward questions of the Biden Administration about Afghanistan. Questions such as how the US has so badly managed a pull out from Afghanistan that has long been planned and long been known was coming?
The sad thing is, I have seen photos taken in Kabul in the 1960s and the people in the pictues were westernised looking by the way they dressed. What has happened since would be akin to the UK reverting to a 17th century puritan society.I think Afghanistan should be left to its own devices, maybe in the future their society will realize the folly of following a 7th century barbaric ideology. The West can’t help them.
Same here but I’ve seen stuff from the 1970’s Kabul that showed similar stuff. I think that you are not reaching far enough back with your 17th century analogy although the religious conflicts back then fits today’s Afghanistan reasonably well. I’d reach back much further in English history for an Afghan analogy, maybe the Anarchy of the 12th century or the period of decline that followed the Romans leaving?