Afghanistan

NATO’s war in Afghanistan is over. Over the last three weeks, the US and her allies – including Ireland – have evacuated over 120,000 people from Kabul International Airport. On Tuesday night, Major General Chris Donahue of the 82nd Airborne Division became the last US soldier to quit Afghan soil. …

Without a diplomatic presence on the ground in Kabul, the United States will engage with the Taliban from a remote mission in Doha. With the US military withdrawn from Afghanistan, the focus has shifted to what Secretary of State Antony Blinken has billed as the next chapter of America’s engagement …

Abstract: Twenty years after 9/11, with the United States withdrawn from Afghanistan, the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a shift in focus and resources to great power competition, jihadi terrorism appears to have been demoted to a second-tier priority. But complacency is dangerous. While al-Qa`ida and the Islamic …

Abstract: President Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan depended on a critical assessment of the terrorism landscape in Afghanistan. At the time of his decision, he argued that the terrorism threat from Afghanistan was both low and manageable for the foreseeable future. This article argues that the Biden …

On September 7, 2021, hundreds of Afghans – most of whom were women defying the Taliban jihadis patrolling public life in Afghanistan – turned out in the streets of Kabul chanting anti-Pakistan, anti-Taliban slogans. Some of the slogans raised by the protesters included: “Pakistan, Pakistan, Leave Afghanistan” and “Freedom, Freedom.”[1] …

With the help of China, the Taliban will fight for an economic comeback in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid tells Italian newspaper. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has told an Italian newspaper that the group will rely primarily on financing from China following the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and its takeover …

Salafi-jihadi groups in Turkey and neighboring Syria may look for inspiration from the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, but their prospects appear rather limited at present. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has raised complex questions over the future of Salafi-jihadi movements, including in Turkey and neighboring Syria where the threat from …

Qatar’s ruling emir and the visiting U.S. secretaries of state and defense discussed developments in Afghanistan and efforts to enhance security there, the emir’s court said on Monday. The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, received U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after their …

The Taliban announced a new caretaker government on Tuesday evening and said the acting head of state will be Mullah Hassan Akhund. Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made the announcement and said the new acting prime minister will be Mullah Hassan Akhund. The Taliban swept …

In the press conferences that have followed the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the group has projected a changed image. Its spokesmen have attempted to distance this Taliban from the legacy of brutal force and violent oppression of women and ethnic minorities that characterised their 1990s regime, instead emphasising their concern …