ISIS claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan

The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks on Taliban vehicles in eastern Afghanistan.

The statement, published Sunday evening in the media branch of the militant group, the Aamaq news agency, reports a growing threat to the Taliban from their longtime rivals.

At least eight people, including several Taliban fighters, were killed in attacks on Sunday and Saturday in the provincial city of Jalalabad, an ISIS stronghold.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in a blitz last month, invading the capital Kabul as the United States and NATO were in the final stages of withdrawing their troops. The last foreign soldiers left on August 30.

The Taliban now face significant economic and security challenges in attempting to rule Afghanistan, and an accelerated campaign of IS attacks will further complicate these efforts. The Taliban and IS extremists were enemies before foreign troops left Afghanistan.

Both groups subscribe to a harsh interpretation of Islam, but the Taliban has focused on taking control of Afghanistan, while ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere are calling for a global jihad.

WOMEN DELETED FROM THEIR WORK

The acting mayor of the Afghan capital said the country’s new Taliban leadership had ordered many city employees to stay at home.

Hamdullah Namony told reporters on Sunday that only women who could not be replaced by men could report to work. He says this includes skilled workers in design and engineering departments, as well as female public toilet assistants.

Namony’s comments were another sign that the Taliban They impose their harsh interpretation of Islam, including restrictions on women in public life, despite their initial promises of tolerance and inclusion. During their previous regime in the 1990s, the Taliban excluded girls and women from schools and jobs.

The mayor said a final decision was still pending regarding the employees of the Kabul municipal services and that they would receive their salaries in the meantime.

It says that before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last month, just under a third of the city’s approximately 3,000 employees were women working in all departments.

(with AP information)

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