Foreign Fighters Are Abandoning The Taliban

Credit: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood

The Taliban Is Running Low on Foreign Fighters -- Robert

Hint—they’re all going to Syria

Just a few years ago, the Taliban was one of the two prime Islamist militant groups—the other being Al Qaida-aligned insurgents in Iraq—for foreign fighters around the world to enlist with. But with the self-proclaimed Islamic State on the warpath and new conflicts in North Africa, the Taliban has become less attractive.

Specifically, the Pakistani Taliban. That’s the subject of a new report in CTC Sentinel, West Point’s counter-terrorism newsletter.

As of July 2008, the Pakistani Taliban included around 8,000 foreign fighters, notes Raza Khan, a political analyst who authored the report. These fighters came from western Europe, the Middle East, China, Russia, India, and central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan. But today, only a few hundred remain.

There are several reasons for the decline. For one, American drone strikes have killed thousands of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s a powerful disincentive for potential recruits.

Read more ....

My Comment: I guess better options exist elsewhere for these fighters .... and it appears that the Islamic State is where they want to be.