Taliban militants (file photo)

Asia Times: Armed resistance groups killing Taliban members, lighting bombs and stirring instability as country tilts back toward civil war. The Taliban’s desire for international legitimacy has been mocked by IS-K, which has accused the regime of bowing to the West, a message that has resonated with many disaffected Afghans. Concurrently, the regime’s inability to defeat IS-K has made it look weak in the eyes of many Afghans, failing to provide the stability and security it promised when it returned to power. Armed resistance is growing elsewhere, with the anti-Taliban group the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) – led by former General Yasin Zia – becoming increasingly emboldened in carrying out attacks on Taliban forces throughout the country. The AFF is cooperating with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, son of anti-Soviet military leader and Afghan hero Ahmad Shah Massoud. Click here to read more (external link).