More complex - Another dangerous alliance

THE news that al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged the group’s allegiance to the new head of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, underlines how fluid and almost universal the threat represented by radical Islam has become.

Coming as it does, just days after Taliban attacks killed dozens of people in Kabul, it makes a complex situation even more impenetrable.

Ayman al-Zawahiri’s declaration has scuppered any immediate prospect of peace talks as he has already declared that an increase in Taliban activity is one of his primary aims. The violence prompted Afghan president Ashraf Ghani to launch a scathing attack on Pakistan, demanding that it take action against the Taliban who, he believes, are offered tacit sanctuary in Pakistan. This may seem remote and irrelevant on a small island on the fringes of Europe but the migrant crisis changing the face of Europe, and in time Ireland, is partially rooted in the 14th century lunacies of the zealots killing each other in Afghanistan and Pakistan.