World press on the influence of the Isis on the Taliban (October 21-22, 2014)"Isis ascent in Syria and Iraq weakening Pakistani Taliban: Islamic State’s military prowess and string of defections leave once-formidable Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on the ropes", reads the title of the article by Jon Boone published by the Guardian."The dramatic rise of Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq is helping to tear apart the Pakistani Taliban, the beleaguered militant group beset by infighting and splits. Once the country’s largest and most feared militant coalition, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been on the ropes since a US drone strike killed its charismatic leader Hakimullah Mehsud in 2013, a blow followed this summer by the launch of a military onslaught against the group’s sanctuaries", writes the Guardian.However, Jon Boone argues, the main challenge came from the military successes of Isis and its demand that all Muslims pledge allegiance to the new caliphate it announced in June: "The claim to global Islamic leadership by the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi threatens to undermine the TTP, which draws considerable authority from the fact that its symbolic figurehead is Mullah Omar, the one-eyed village preacher who ruled the original Taliban “emirate” in Afghanistan prior to the US-led invasion of 2001".The article quotes the Mohammad Amir Rana, head of the security thinktank the Pak Institute of Peace Studies, who maintains the turning of Pakistani militants towards Isis was highly significant. “This shows [Isis] has captured the imagination and it will encourage many other smaller groups who have been waiting and watching to see what the major groups do.”
"Isis ascent in Syria and Iraq weakening Pakistani Taliban: Islamic State’s military prowess and string of defections leave once-formidable Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on the ropes", reads the title of the article by Jon Boone published by the Guardian.
"The dramatic rise of Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq is helping to tear apart the Pakistani Taliban, the beleaguered militant group beset by infighting and splits. Once the country’s largest and most feared militant coalition, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been on the ropes since a US drone strike killed its charismatic leader Hakimullah Mehsud in 2013, a blow followed this summer by the launch of a military onslaught against the group’s sanctuaries", writes the Guardian.
However, Jon Boone argues, the main challenge came from the military successes of Isis and its demand that all Muslims pledge allegiance to the new caliphate it announced in June: "The claim to global Islamic leadership by the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi threatens to undermine the TTP, which draws considerable authority from the fact that its symbolic figurehead is Mullah Omar, the one-eyed village preacher who ruled the original Taliban “emirate” in Afghanistan prior to the US-led invasion of 2001".
The article quotes the Mohammad Amir Rana, head of the security thinktank the Pak Institute of Peace Studies, who maintains the turning of Pakistani militants towards Isis was highly significant. “This shows [Isis] has captured the imagination and it will encourage many other smaller groups who have been waiting and watching to see what the major groups do.”
