Moreover, a Pashtun minority in several regional "pockets" began to gradually change allegiance and support opposition movements against both foreign troops and other Afghan ethnicities. These conditions would eventually facilitate the insurgency's arrival in the north and threaten a crucial line of communications between the northern border of Afghanistan and Kabul, the capital. Due to similar problems in Regional Command West's area of responsibility, other insurgent groups and bands of criminals were able to get a foothold in the far west of Regional Command North as well.