Afghanistan: Taliban’s divisions cast doubt on guarantee of safety for Chinese nationals
- As the last US troops leave the country, the Taliban’s grip on power faces a new challenge – controlling dissent from within its ranks
- The group has courted China in rebuilding efforts and promised the safety of Chinese nationals, but internal divisions could make those vows hard to keep
“Now that the Taliban have taken power, the challenge of how they rule is infinitely more complicated,” said Nishank Motwani, an independent analyst on Afghanistan affairs.
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Motwani said there was no agreement among the various factions that make up the Taliban on “who will have what power” or “how they will exercise it”.
He warned that Taliban commanders on the ground were likely to claim “a larger prize for themselves and their fighters as they were the ones that delivered victory over the Americans and the collapsed Afghan government”.
“As a consequence, China and other countries that have shown an interest in engaging the Taliban cannot be certain about whether the Taliban group that they are in touch with can deliver what has been promised,” Motwani said.
While the Taliban has vowed to protect foreign nationals helping with reconstruction efforts and pledged to prevent the country from once again becoming a staging ground for terrorists, the divisions within the group only underscore the country’s fragility and the daunting challenges ahead.