Afghanistan

Turkey is going ahead with its plans to take over security at the Kabul international airport after the pullout of U.S. troops, despite opposition from the Taliban. Ankara is in negotiations with Washington to secure the airport, which analysts say is key to maintaining stability and an international presence in …

When a reporter in early July asked Joe Biden a question about the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. president sniped back, saying, “I want to talk about happy things, man.” Biden revealed, perhaps unintentionally, that the situation in Afghanistan is anything but a happy topic. It might have been one …

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan co-chair Lahur Talabani has been peacefully ousted, and Ankara is clearly happy about the turn of events. Lahur Talabani, the ousted co-chair of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has signaled that he will not fight back, saying the succession for the leadership of Iraqi Kurdistan’s …

Afghan Taliban and their local associates are active in Pakistan’s border regions, local sources told VOA, as Pakistan has acknowledged that bodies of militants killed in Afghanistan arrive in Pakistan, and wounded Taliban are treated in local hospitals. In a June 27 interview with Geo News, a local Pakistani channel, …

Stable democracy may be an elusive prospect in Afghanistan, but that in itself is no reason to stop talking about it. Although many Afghans might well prioritize security from violence over elections in the short term, voting rights are still widely valued across Afghanistan. This report examines the country’s recent …

Turkey has undertaken to protect Kabul’s airport. It is a risky job, but also one which promises some substantial strategic rewards. The Taliban do not shy away from assertive statements, nor do they hesitate to commit war crimes. So, this week’s statement by the group castigating Turkey’s offer to remain …

Prolonging the UK military presence in Afghanistan would not have helped so long as the fundamental problem of the absence of a strategy remained unaddressed. But the manner of leaving and what follows still matter a great deal to the UK. It feels a lot like 1989. Once again, the …

As NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by 11 September in the face of a Taliban surge, a question remains unanswered: why did the international intervenors fail in their mission to bring stability to Afghanistan? Five reasons stand out: The West’s best wasn’t good enough. The lives of 3,500 international …

The spokesman for the Afghan government’s negotiating team in Doha said the offer from the armed group was a ‘big demand’. The Taliban have offered a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of thousands of fighters held in prisons, a top Afghan government negotiator said on Thursday, as the …

The Afghan IT sector, one of the few success stories from the war-ravaged nation, now threatened by continued conflict. When 30-year-old Ali Atayee enrolled for his first computer lessons as an Afghan refugee child growing up in Iran, he knew then this is what he would like to pursue as …