Afghan Officials Acknowledge Islamic State Presence in Their Country

The Afghan government said Tuesday that forces belonging to the Islamic State militant organization have taken root in the country, its first official acknowledgment that the group based in Iraq and Syria had reached so far to the east.
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The groups have clashed in recent weeks in the eastern provinces of Logar and Nangarhar in what local officials described as turf wars, although the reports could not be independently confirmed.

“The Islamic State will likely continue to face considerable resistance from the spectrum of well-established local anti-state actors like the Taliban,” according to a report this month by the Long War Journal, which tracks militant groups worldwide.

The Taliban, the journal added, “perceive their resistance to the Afghan government and coalition forces as the primary and most legitimate alternative to the current political system.”
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