Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the movement initially attempted dialogue with Islamic State when ISIS began expanding in Afghanistan in 2015.
Speaking to the Taliban-affiliated Rawayat podcast, Mujahid said then-Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour instructed him to contact ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani by email.
According to Mujahid, the Taliban asked ISIS not to recruit its fighters.
He says al-Adnani rejected the private approach and instead demanded that the Taliban publicly declare its position and pledge allegiance to Islamic State.
The relationship subsequently deteriorated into open conflict, with Taliban and ISIS forces repeatedly fighting in Afghanistan.
The two organisations represented competing militant Islamist projects.
Islamic State claimed authority through its self-declared caliphate and demanded allegiance from other jihadist movements.
The Taliban’s political and military project remained centred on Afghanistan under its own leadership.
Mujahid’s account provides a glimpse into that early competition for fighters and authority as ISIS attempted to establish itself in the country.
Akhtar Mohammad Mansour became Taliban leader following the disclosure of founder Mullah Omar’s death and was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2016.
Mujahid’s description of the 2015 exchange is a retrospective account given by the Taliban spokesman and has not been independently established from the reported email correspondence.
Sources
- Afghanistan International – Mujahid recounts Taliban’s early contact with ISIS
- Hürriyet Daily News – Akhtar Mohammad Mansour background
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