[Rauf] recently joined the IS, a jihadi group which controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria, and has been leading hundreds of masked gunmen in northern districts of Helmand.
A Taliban commander in Helmand, wishing anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News they disarmed Rauf and his 45 gunmen and detained them on Wednesday in compliance with directives from the Taliban’s governor for Helmand, Mullah Abdul Rahim Akhund.
Maybe we could hire a gaggle of Talibs to give us a hand in Iraq.
The Taliban have always been nationalist. Well, or tribal. But they've never been interested in international jihad, just in being what the francophone Quebecois would call "maitres chez nous". Even though they're devout Muslims of a pretty reactionary school, this localist perspective has often made their relations with more internationalist outfits like Al Quaeda somewhat tense.
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