A possible peace agreement between the United States government and the Taliban will favor the Islamic state in Afghanistan, so some sources reported on the ground.
After nearly two decades of war, the United States is close to concluding a peace agreement with the Taliban, the Sunni group of Pashtuns who waged an Islamist insurgency in 2001 against the American-backed Afghan government. The two sides confirmed that they will sign a peace agreement on February 29th, only after a week of lasting ceasefire. If the gradual reduction of violence continues unabated, the United States could withdraw most of its troops from the country, while the Taliban have agreed to enter into peace negotiations with the Afghan government.
However, a group of journalists from the American television program Frontline, which is operating in Afghanistan, reports that the imminent peace agreement could have collateral consequences: numerous sources in Afghanistan warn that the peace agreement will lead to an increase in adhesions to the Islamic State from part of the Taliban fighters who oppose the peace treaty with Washington. Some Frontline sources claim that most of the Taliban fighters are already preparing to join the Islamic State. The Frontline crew, in fact, mentions the words of a commander of the Islamic State in Afghanistan: "the peace agreement will raise the caliphate's quotations, the Taliban fighters have promised to join us".
The United States is aware of this and is trying to anticipate this trend. The Pentagon plans, as soon as the peace treaty with the Taliban is signed, to direct its troops to the forces of the Islamic State in Afghanistan.