November 3, 2020
November 01, 2020 witnessed a tactical shift in the operational conduct of Taliban as the Governor’s compound in Kunduz came under attack. The attack sent an alarm bell, as Taliban reportedly it out via a drone. The strike came about as the heavy infighting lingers on in Kunduz province between Taliban insurgents and Afghan government, despite the peace ongoing negotiations.
While Taliban, carrying out a drone attack, which killed four security officers, is still clouded by uncertainty, the concerns related to it are real as it signals a worrisome shift in the battle tactics of the insurgents. Taliban have been good at improvising their battlefield tactics as previously they have also used thermal and night visons for carrying out their operations.
According to the officials, this could be the Taliban’s first publicly usage of drone. Prior to this, Taliban have used over the counter drones to film attacks for propaganda and reconnaissance. However, use of remote-controlled devices for dropping the payloads and munitions by militants hitherto used by Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, is a novelty in case of Afghanistan.
According to security analysts, if the attack was indeed carried out by an armed drone, it could have immense impact on the security situation of Afghanistan, which is particularly true owing to the draw dawn of the international troops form the country.
The Report is compiled by Tooba Altaf, a Researcher at Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
