TRT World: Factional rift and competing interests to move up the power ladder are among the key factors pushing the former insurgent group to the brink of implosion. There are four major divisions in the Taliban administration. The first is between the movements’ pragmatist and hardline leaders. The second division is between the Taliban fighters and top leaders. The third division is between the Taliban’s Haqqani Network and the Kandhari Taliban faction. The fourth division is between the Pashtun and non-Pashtun or Uzbek and Tajik Taliban. The non-Pashtun Taliban feel marginalized and discriminated against by their Pashtun counterparts. Even the Taliban chief of army staff, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, an ethnic Tajik credited with the Taliban’s speedy military victories, also feels alienated. He does not have the authority to appoint or transfer commanders. Click here to read more (external link).
