'The Taliban are waiting for the government to surrender'
The Taliban continues to take control of more provincial capitals in Afghanistan. We look at the role played by neighbouring countries.
The Taliban continues to take control of more provincial capitals in Afghanistan. Taliban negotiators are being urged to sit down and talk with the Afghan government, but they are refusing to do so, unless it鈥檚 to discuss surrender.
Dr Jonathan Schroden is director of the Countering Threats and Challenges Program in Arlington, Virginia, which advises the US government on military conflicts.
He told Newsday: 鈥淭he Taliban are effectively waiting for the government to come and surrender to them.鈥�
Afghanistan鈥檚 neighbouring countries 鈥� all have certain interests that align. A collapsed state would be bad for all of them. And they all hate Isis. A collapsed state in Afghanistan would put fuel on the fire of Isis and allow it to spread.鈥�
鈥淭hey are all cultivating their own relations with various sub-national groups in Afghanistan. The more they empower those nonstate groups, the more likely it is they will bring about the scenario they all want to avoid.鈥�
鈥淭he worst case outcome is a widespread civil war or a collapsed state in Afghanistan. A Taliban regime - as awful as it would be for many Afghans - is unfortunately not the worst outcome for a lot of the countries in the region.鈥�
Photo: Displaced Afghans from the northern provinces arrive at a makeshift camp in Kabul (Getty Images)
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