By Elena Marchetti.
On Monday night, 7 December, Taliban forces stormed a Kandahar police station and engaged in a firefight in which three police officers and two of the attackers were killed.
The Kandahar airfield complex is the southern citadel of the government and its foreign support. It is fortified and defended. Thus, even a minor penetration of the security system required inside assistance.
The last significant Taliban action in Kandahar was a suicide attack in early November. The security situation in Kandahar does not seem dire. Suicide attacks seem to be unpreventable, but the government and the Allies have found ways to limit the damage and casualties they cause.
Nevertheless, yesterday’s attacks represent an escalation from the attacks on district centers in nearby provinces and from the temporary capture of Kunduz City in October. This was an attack at the heart of the government’s strength. Cumulatively, such attacks weaken public confidence in the government’s ability to protect the populace.
In Shindand District in western Afghanistan (Herat Province), local Afghan police said on 8 December that rival Taliban factions engaged in a gunfight in which 54 men were killed and 40 wounded. The fight was between local commanders loyal to Mullah Mansour and others loyal to Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund, who rejects Mansour’s legitimacy as overall Taliban leader. On 8 December, suicide bombers attacked Kandahar airport, penetrating the outer security ring. Simultaneously, other Taliban fighters attacked residential housing that is used by foreign military personnel. At least 9 people plus ten suicide bombers died and 15 were injured.
This is the first report that factional rivalry has affected Taliban groups in western Afghanistan. Prior to this clash, most of the reports of factional fighting have mentioned locations in the east or at Taliban safe havens in Pakistan. It lends credence to reports of factional fighting among the leadership because it exposes the gravity of the leadership dispute. While the factional clashes benefit the government, they also offer opportunities for recruiters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to attract Afghans who are anti-government and not tied to the Pakistan-based leadership.
The factional fighting influences who receives finances and other support and how much. ISIL’s appeal is that it has the resources to fill shortfalls that local Taliban groups experience.
