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Iran Gains Ground in Afghanistan as U.S. Presence Wanes

(New York Times) Carlotta Gall - After American air support ended a three-week siege in October of Farah, Afghanistan, local security officials realized that Iran was behind the attack. Four senior Iranian commandos were among the dead. Many of the Taliban dead and wounded were also taken back across the nearby border with Iran, where the insurgents had been recruited and trained. The assault was part of an accelerating Iranian campaign to step into a vacuum left by departing American forces - Iran's biggest push into Afghanistan in decades. Iran is conducting an intensifying covert intervention in Afghanistan, providing Taliban insurgents with weapons, money and training. It has offered Taliban commanders sanctuary and fuel for their trucks, and has padded Taliban ranks with Afghan Sunni refugees in Iran. "The strongest Taliban here are Iranian Taliban," said Mohammed Arif Shah Jehan, the governor of Farah Province.
2017-08-07 00:00:00
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