Afghanistan, Pakistan: Preparing for the Taliban Comeback

On Nov. 5, a number of Afghan lawmakers admonished Afghan Minister of Water and Energy Mohammad Ismail Khan for seeking to create a group of militias, led by a council of former mujahideen, to combat Taliban insurgents after NATO troops leave in 2014. Also on Nov. 5, a key anti-Taliban political party in Pakistan announced it would mobilize the country against the jihadist movement through a national vote on whether the public wants a secular Muslim state or a government more in line with the Taliban's goals.

Afghan and Pakistani opponents of the Taliban lack confidence in their governments' abilities to deal with the Taliban threat in the post-NATO period and are therefore taking unilateral actions that will complicate official efforts to contain the jihadists' comeback after 2014.