Is Tthe Afghan War About To Become A Sectarian Conflict?

The Afghan military is planning an offensive against Isis positions in coming days Reuters

Milo Comerford, The Independent: Isis is now waging a sectarian war in Afghanistan – and even the Taliban opposes it

Afghanistan’s 'long war' is entrenched and intractable, but unlike conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon it has not been characterised by a Sunni/Shia divide – until now

Kabul set ablaze is a tragically familiar sight. But the killing of at least 80 Afghan Hazara at a protest in the capital last Saturday – the worst attack on the city for 15 years – is a considerable development for Afghanistan’s conflict, both because of its scale, and its intended target.

Isis’s claim of responsibility for the attack was explicitly sectarian, stating that it had sent two fighters with suicide belts to “a Shia gathering”. This stands in stark contrast to the rhetoric of the Taliban, by some distance the country’s most deadly insurgent force, which condemned the attack as an attempt “to divide the nation”, and a “plot to ignite civil war”.

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WNU Editor: The Islamic State's modus operandus is to ferment these types of conflicts. Will they succeed in Afghanistan .... if they are not stopped, the answer will be yes.