Ashraf Ghani

Eisa Khan Ayoobi via Al Jazeera: The NUG is struggling with containing the Taliban and addressing internal divisions – [Ghani’s] intra-Pashtun clan politics seems to have made reaching out to the Taliban more difficult. The Taliban leadership are Durrani Pashtun from Kandahar who take pride in being the descendants of “conventional” Afghan rulers like Ahmad Shah Durrani. Ghani is a Ghilzai Pashtun and this seems to have coloured the “extreme Pashtun nationalism” he has been said to display in his governmental appointments. Although the Afghan president has been accused of favouring Pashtuns in general over other ethnic groups, he has specifically surrounded himself with mostly “eastern Pashtuns”.  Click here to read more (external link).