Power Struggle Seen Within Surging IS in Afghanistan

Anatol Lieven was quoted in an article by Voice of America about an IS affiliate: 

Central Asian fighters are now a key pillar of support for the IS affiliate, according to Anatol Lieven, a regional expert at Georgetown University's Qatar campus.

"They have been encouraged to move to IS because of the longstanding Taliban declaration that they are not an international jihadi force," he said.

"The estimates of the number of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmen and other fighters from the former U.S.S.R. living in Afghanistan that I heard ranged from 6,000 to 25,000," said Lieven adding many have intermarried with Afghans of a similar ethnic background.