- José Carlos Cueto
- BBC Spanish
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The Taliban, Al-Qaida, and the Islamic State are all Islamic extremist organizations, but their goals and ways of doing things are very different.
After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, supporters of Islamic jihadist all over the world are celebrating. Some people set off fireworks in Yemen and other places, some in Somalia distributed candies, and Islamists in southern Asia also celebrated on the Internet, claiming that the U.S. retreat was a victory for their defeat of Western military forces.
Now experts are beginning to worry that the Middle East and Central Asia are ushering in a new round of jihadistism. The biggest threat comes from the extremist organization Al Qaeda (also known as Al-Qaeda) and the Islamic State armed group, which have weakened after being attacked in the past few years, but are still active.
When the Taliban negotiated with the United States, they promised that they would not provide asylum to extremist organizations that plan to launch attacks on Western targets, but it still has very close ties with Al Qaeda.
As for the Islamic State, which is an opponent of Al Qaeda, experts believe that it will face pressure to show that it is still active. An Islamic State branch called “Islamic State Khorasan” (IS-K) has launched an attack at the Kabul Airport long before the United States was still completely withdrawn, killing about 170 people, including 13 American soldier.
But apart from ideology, what is the difference between them?
Colin Clarke, a security analyst at the Soufan Center in the United States, sums it up: “The Taliban has the most important role in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is a transitional jihadist organization that wants to rebuild its network. The Islamic State is the same, but Because it is a mortal enemy of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, it is not easy to do so.”
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The Islamic State is the product of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was originally a branch of Al-Qaida in Iraq, and it was composed of the remnants of this branch after the US invasion.
How are they built?
The Taliban and Al-Qaida were organizations established by locals in the late 1980s to resist the Soviet invasion. They also played a role in the internal conflicts in Afghanistan in the early 1990s.
The Islamic State is the product of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was originally a branch of Al-Qaida in Iraq, and it was composed of the remnants of this branch after the US invasion. The United States once reduced its activities after sending additional troops to Iraq in 2007, but it became active again in 2011.
Al Qaeda is an organization founded by Saudi tycoon Osama bin Laden. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it provided material and weapon support to Muslims resisting the Soviet army.
Bin Laden also recruited members from Islamic countries around the world to join Al Qaeda.
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Al Qaeda is an organization founded by Saudi tycoon Bin Laden.
As for the Taliban, its name can be translated as “student” in Pashto. It emerged in northern Pakistan after the Soviet Union withdrew in the early 1990s. It is believed that this movement, mainly founded by Pashtuns, first appeared in seminaries mainly funded by Saudi Arabia, teaching some hardline Sunni teachings.
The Taliban promised these people living in the Pashtun region on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan that once they are in power, they will restore local peace and order, and at the same time enforce Islamic laws according to their own interpretation. It then quickly expanded its influence in Afghanistan, seizing Kabul in 1996 and ousting the then president Burhanuddin Rabbani (Burhanuddin Rabbani).
By 1998, the Taliban had successfully controlled about 90% of Afghanistan’s land.
At this time, Al Qaeda is no longer a simple material supply network. It has evolved into a jihadist organization, hoping to expand globally. In order to thank Al Qaeda for its support, the Taliban regime allowed it to enter Afghanistan.
But the branch of Al-Qaida in Iraq also has this kind of global expansion plan, and its idea is different from the original idea of Al-Qaida. So it absorbed other extremist organizations in 2006 and changed its name to the “Islamic State of Iraq” (Islamic State of Iraq).
It entered the area during the Syrian civil war in 2011 and changed its name again to “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), calling itself the “caliphate” of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. , And immediately cut ties with Al Qaeda.
How do they explain the teachings of Islam?
One of the biggest things in common among the Taliban, Al-Qaida, and the Islamic State is that they all interpret Sunni Islamic teachings in a tough way.
According to Michele Groppi, a scholar at King’s College London, all three organizations believe that religious life is inseparable from social and political life. “They believe that using violence in the name of religion is not a problem, and it is also an obligation. A person who is unwilling to fight is a bad Muslim.”
Groppi pointed out that this view stems from their strict interpretation of some scriptures, but in fact, when these scriptures were written, the situation and the threats they faced were completely different.
“The Koran, like the Bible, has many strict clauses, but most Muslims generally ignore those clauses. They think that the clauses are interesting at the beginning of the religion because the denominations were indeed threatened. The jihad was launched at that time. It is indeed logical.”
Some experts believe that the biggest difference between the Taliban, Al-Qaida, and ISIS is that they have varying degrees of extremism.
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The Taliban emerged in northern Pakistan after the Soviet Union withdrew in the early 1990s.
What is the difference between their goals?
The main goal of the Taliban is only in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida and the Islamic State hope to expand their influence globally.
When the Taliban came to power in the 1990s, they enforced strict Islamic laws, including strict rules and severe penalties for women, including public executions, whipping, and cutting of palms. After it regained power, the people feared that it would return to the old road, so they hoped to flee the local area.
According to Daniel Byman, a scholar at Georgetown University in the United States, the teachings of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are stricter. In an interview with the BBC, he said that the goal of the Taliban “is to restore Afghanistan to an idealized Islamic era”, not to change other countries.
Although both Al-Qaida and the Islamic State hope to expand globally and establish a “caliphate,” they are very different.
“Islamic State wants to establish a Caliphate now, but Al Qaeda believes that this is not the time. They believe that neither the jihadist groups nor the Muslim society are ready, so this is not their priority.”
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The place that Al Qaeda has received the most attention from outsiders is that they launched the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Who is their enemy?
The Taliban, Al-Qaida, and the Islamic State all have common enemies, but there are also conflicts between them.
The United States and the Western camp are their main enemies, as are some countries that are separated from administration and religion. Biman believes that the Islamic State was more violent than Al-Qaeda at the beginning. In addition to Western society, “they also broke out a secular struggle against some Muslims who did not agree with them.”
Another major difference is that the Islamic Congress attacks Shia communities in the Middle East, but Al Qaeda will not do so. Biman said that although al-Qaeda also considers Shiite followers to be traitors, “killing them is too extreme, wastes resources, and detrimental to the jihadist plan.”
The Taliban’s power also further divides the power of the parties, because the Islamic State believes that the Taliban’s negotiations with the United States have turned them into traitors. However, experts point out that the two parties are not entirely enemies because they are both associated with a network called the “Haqqani network” (Haqqani network). ) Is connected to the organization.
The way the attack was launched
The place that Al Qaeda has received the most attention from outsiders is that they launched the September 11 attacks in 2001. They hope to use this method to inspire Islamic fighters everywhere and to evacuate the United States from the Middle East, especially from Saudi Arabia and the Holy Land.
Its message mainly means that jihad is the responsibility of every Islamist, but the task of al Qaeda must be completed first.
Biman believes that the propaganda message of the Islamic State is similar, but in a “more violent” way. He described that for the Islamic State, “terrorism is part of the revolutionary war. In the areas they control, they will carry out mass executions, public beheadings and rapes. They hope to make the local people afraid of them, and ultimately obedience to them. instruction.”
He described the method used by al-Qaeda as “relatively kind.”
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Former US President Bush launched the “War on Terrorism” after the September 11 attacks and ordered the invasion of Afghanistan.
The Islamic State significantly expanded its control in Syria and Iraq from 2014 to 2017, but was later repelled by Western troops, Kurdish armed forces, and Russian-backed Syrian forces.
It finally announced its disbandment after losing the last piece of Syrian territory in 2019, but then it changed into a secret network and continued to be a threat. The Afghan branch of the Islamic State “Islamic State Khorasan” attacked the Kabul airport on August 26, killing at least 170 people. It also launched an attack on ethnic minorities in Afghanistan.
As for the Taliban, it has launched attacks against the Afghan government in the past few weeks, seizing control of different cities, and finally gaining control of the capital Kabul.
Various accounts point out that Taliban fighters executed many Afghan soldiers and imposed many severe penalties and restrictions, especially for women.
But Groppi, a scholar at King’s College London, believes that the Taliban has changed in persuading the people to accept their governance, and that getting the other party to accept the Taliban can solve problems such as corruption, especially in the suburbs.
The difference in recruiting fighters
The Taliban, Al-Qaida, and the Islamic State all recruit fighters in their areas, promising that jihad can save and “purify” their religion. But al Qaeda and ISIS can also recruit fighters outside the Middle East.
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The Islamic State successfully incited foreigners to launch attacks in their own country through propaganda. The Paris attack in 2015 is an example.
Ropi said that the Islamic State used the Internet to recruit many people outside the control zone to work for them, describing “this is where they are most successful.”
Georgetown University scholar Biman agreed, describing the Islamic State’s efforts on social networking sites as impressive. “They succeeded in persuading people in Western countries to launch attacks in their own countries, although they had little or no contact with the organization and were unable to reach Syria and Iraq.”
This kind of attack, including an attack in Paris in 2015, was launched by some militants who had fought on the battlefield and killed 130 people. It is regarded as the most serious attack in the peace era in France.