Summary: We discuss the reasons and repercussions of the latest Taliban attacks in the run-up to presidential elections. Mike Hanna speaks to Omar Samad, senior central Asia fellow at the New America Foundation, and a former spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry; Helena Malikyar - an Afghan historian who has worked on a number of governance projects with international organisations in Afghanistan; and Tony Shaffer - a retired US army lieutenant colonel and intelligence officer, and a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research.
