The Taliban is the 'only team on the field' to quell Afghanistan's ISIS-K threat

Don't expect a "miracle" from disparate anti-Taliban Afghan forces, Khalid Noor, the son of former provincial governor Atta Noor, told The National. "We cannot take Afghanistan back in three months," he said.

That seems especially true since there's no sizeable, unified resistance within the country, but even if some of the leaders can come together in the coming weeks, the point may be moot. A western security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The National that the international community, which has not been aiding resistance forces anyway, is growing more resigned to the fact that they'll have to engage with the Taliban (the United Kingdom already has). That's in part because the group has the only real chance of quelling the threat from the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate.

The security official said that while the Taliban wouldn't be western governments' first choice to fight ISIS-K, "they are the only team on the field." "As long as the Taliban are in power, they are a sworn enemy of ISIS-K," the source said. "It's not as if a deal has been done; it's just an acknowledgement that they are in power. That is the partner you need." Read more at The National.

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