Taliban Exploits Anti-ISIS Narrative to Gain Benefits From Regional Countries, Claims NRF

The National Resistance Front (NRF) has claimed that the Taliban is exploiting the anti-ISIS Khorasan narrative to gain benefits from regional countries.

According to the NRF, the Taliban seeks to create the impression that the ISIS Khorasan is recruiting Tajik nationals, aiming to justify a greater crackdown on opposition forces.

In a statement released on Thursday (May 2), the NRF accused the Taliban of seeking to gain legitimacy and attract regional attention under the guise of combating ISIS.

The statement emphasises that the Taliban and ISIS share similar goals, ideologies, and strategies, and have cooperated in their destructive pursuits over the years, complementing each other's operational capabilities.

Over the past two and a half years, the NRF has organised attacks against Taliban forces, and it considers the Taliban a regional security threat, just like ISIS.

The NRF dismissed the narrative of ISIS Khorasan recruiting Tajik citizens as dubious and suggested that those who had previously used the Taliban for their strategic objectives are now using ISIS to legitimise the Taliban.

The statement also accused the Taliban of creating a "false link" between the NRF and ISIS Khorasan to suppress resistance fighters further.