Advertisement The Taliban has established its oppressive rule in Afghanistan since taking over in 2021. This has resulted in the violation of the fundamental rights of 40 million people and has led to a humanitarian disaster. Additionally, Afghanistan is now at risk of becoming a hub for global terrorism. It is clear that the Taliban’s … Read more
Advertisement “… [I]t is no longer a question of whether the Taliban are diverting assistance from our programs to help the Afghan people, but rather how much they are diverting,” writes the U.S. Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko in the introduction to its 60th quarterly report, published this week. The report … Read more
Advertisement On July 30-31, a U.S. delegation, led by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, met with Taliban representatives and “technocratic professionals” in Doha, Qatar. Close watchers of Afghanistan noted the meeting, which appears to be the first official talks between the United States and the Taliban since August 2021. Jonathan Schroden of the … Read more
Advertisement The U.N. Sanctions Committee on al-Qaida and ISIL’s recent report has pointed to the possibility of a merger between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Qaida in the Indian Sub-continent (AQIS). Subsequent reporting in some sections of Pakistan’s mainstream media has interpreted this as an attempt by TTP to merge into al-Qaida. According to the report, … Read more
Advertisement The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 proved fatal for the the Western-backed government in Kabul. The Taliban returned to power swiftly and now, nearly two years later, remain in control of Afghanistan. In his recent book, “The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left,” Hassan Abbas dives deeply into the … Read more
Advertisement An Afghan branch of the Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party’s election rally, in one of the region’s worst attacks in recent years. Islamic State in Khorasan Province claimed in a statement posted on its Amaq website. … Read more
A Taliban fighter stands guard as a woman walks past in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi Advertisement Perhaps the most striking feature of the Taliban regime is the ever-growing list of restrictions it has imposed on Afghanistan, arguably making the administration synonymous with bans. While reports continually highlight the practices … Read more
Advertisement The supreme leader of the Taliban’s de facto government, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, has imposed new restrictions on women’s activities by banning women’s beauty salons across Afghanistan. According to a letter issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Kabul Municipality has been asked to carry out Akhundzada’s … Read more
Taliban personnel eradicate a poppy field in Washir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 29, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Abdul Khaliq Advertisement According to multiple media reports, Taliban anti-narcotics units have managed to effect a drastic reduction in opium cultivation in Afghanistan. Assisted by armed Taliban soldiers, stick-wielding personnel are hopping from one opium-growing field … Read more
Advertisement Afghanistan was at the center of global attention for two decades, but now it is left only to the Afghan people, both within the country and among the diaspora, to find solutions to their problems and the country’s many crises. But in the nearly two years since the Taliban re-established their rule over Afghanistan, … Read more