Taliban Announces It Will Not Cooperate with U.S. to Stifle Islamic State Ahead of Meetings Between Officials

A Taliban spokesman announced on October 9 that the Taliban would not work with the United States to stave off the extremist Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen informed the Associated Press that the Taliban would be autonomous when combatting the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

“We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen told the AP. The word “Daesh” serves as an Arabic acronym regarding the Islamic State.

Shaheen’s declaration comes ahead of the first meetings between United States officials and senior ranking members of the Taliban since President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. According to the AP, the sessions will take place on October 9 and October 10 in Doha, Qatar. The AP reports the United States has said that the meetings will not indicate that the United States recognizes the Taliban.

The announcement comes just a day after the October 8 suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in northeastern Afghanistan. The bombing killed at least 46 people, according to the AP, and more than 100 worshipers were injured, according to Breitbart News. The Islamic State quickly took responsibility for the attack.

It has been suspected that the Islamic State conducted another bombing at the Eid Gah Mosque in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul on October 3. The bombing occurred during the funeral service of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid’s mother. At least five civilians died in the attack. The following day, the Taliban announced that it had decimated an Islamic State cell in Kabul’s 17th constituency. Mujahid tweeted the announcement.