ISIL could be the big winner of Taliban leadership crisis
Mullah Omar's death could be recruiting boon for ISIL, which has called on 'jihadists' to pledge their allegiance
31 July
The implications of Mullah Omar’s death are
still being parsed by the Afghan Taliban’s splintering factions, which are reportedly disputing the Shura Council’s chosen successor, and by stakeholders in the country’s
nascent peace process, which now appears to be in shambles. But the death of Omar, who as “Commander of the Faithful” was considered both the spiritual and military leader of like-minded insurgents across South Asia, could also be a recruiting boon for a rising force in the region: The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Since at least January, ISIL has been operating a franchise along the Afghan-Pakistan border, which it calls the “Khorasan province,” so-named for the ancient land that now encompasses both countries.