UN: Taliban faces threat from Islamic State, new resistance

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are maintaining close ties with al-Qaida as they consolidate control over the country, and their main military threat is coming from the Islamic State extremist group and guerrilla-style attacks by former Afghan government security personnel. The experts said in a new report to the U.N. Security Council that with the onset of better weather, fighting may escalate as both Islamic State and resistance forces undertake operations against Taliban forces. But the experts said neither the Islamic State nor al-Qaida “is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest.”