Afghanistan

On September 18, 2021, the top leadership of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), which is sponsored by the Qatari Regime,[1] hosted in the organization’s headquarters in Doha a delegation on behalf of the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad ‘Abbas Stanikzai, which also …

A full accounting of the costs of the United States’ failed intervention in Afghanistan will take years or even decades. But judging from the reactions from overseas to the past week’s events, the debacle has already taken a significant toll on America’s credibility. Justifiably or not, President Joe Biden’s insistence …

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity. Afghanistan: Islamic State appeals to “educated extremists” The Biden administration has vowed retaliation against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) for the Aug. 26 attack on the Kabul airport thath killed 13 US armed service members and …

India’s foreign policy is at a crossroads in Afghanistan, where past policy decisions are producing strategic, moral, and political consequences. To a large extent, India made a mistake, as many Western powers did: it put its faith and confidence in the Ashraf Ghani government, while rivals such as China and …

The Taliban’s record in recent weeks on making good on promises to respect human and women’s rights as well as uphold freedom of the press is mixed at best. Afghanistan’s neighbours and near-neighbours are not holding their breath even if some are willing to give the Central Asian country’s new …

Russia’s cautious accommodation of the Taliban shows it will likely combine diplomacy with deterrence in the coming months. Since Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul on 15 August, Russia has cautiously accommodated the Taliban’s seizure of power. Diplomats, such as Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov and President Vladimir Putin’s …

Afghanistan’s infamous Pul-e-Charkhi Prison, which once housed thousands of Islamic Emirate forces and Daesh fighters in its sprawling compound on the outskirts of Kabul, today stands virtually empty, except for the remnants of prisoners’ belongings and discarded documents. On August 15, as the Islamic Emirate drove into Kabul following the …

Afghanistan’s acting deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar appeared in a video interview posted on Wednesday and denied reports that he was hurt in a clash with a rival faction of the Islamic Emirate. “No this is not true, I am OK and healthy,” Baradar said in an interview with …

Just last week, the Taliban installed several members of the Haqqani Network in senior government positions, including Sirajuddin Haqqani as interior minister and Khalil Haqqani as minister for refugees. The threat posed by Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) looks likely to bring the Taliban and al-Qaeda even closer together.Because the Taliban …

The Taliban has announced that its government aims to establish ties and diplomatic relations with all countries of the world, except for Israel. According to the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who spoke to the Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik, the group will even allow relations to develop with the United …