Pakistani Taliban Declares Allegiance To Islamic State

The Pakistani Taliban has announced that it has declared allegiance to Islamic State militants and has ordered its fighters to help the militant extremist group try to set up a global Islamic caliphate.

The announcement by Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid on October 4 comes after Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in September that he had named former Taliban commander Asim Umar as the "emir" of Al-Qaeda’s new South Asia branch.

Shahid’s statement came despite recent speculation that the leadership of Pakistan’s Taliban is wary of IS fighters, who are driven by different ambitions that have little to do with South Asia.

Although there has been little evidence of a firm alliance between IS militants and Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban commanders, IS activists have been spotted recently in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar distributing pamphlets that praise the group.

http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistani-taliban-islamic-state-allegiance/26620750.html