Afghanistan

On May 14, 2021, at least 12 civilians, including Mufti Numan, the imam of the mosque, were killed and more than 15 others injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion at the Sharif Haji Bakhshi Mosque in the Qala-e-Muradbek area of Shakar Dara District of Kabul Province. On May …

Without a large military footprint, can the United States help Afghan women and minorities protect their rights? For the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul, home to the Hazara minority group, the devastating May 8 bombing outside a school is part of a disturbing trend of attacks in the area. The bombing …

NATO says it will continue to train Afghan security forces outside the country after the international military withdrawal in September. “As we end our military presence, we are opening a new chapter,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Paris after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on May …

But the US withdrawal is no longer conditions-based, which means the Taliban have achieved their number one objective without bending on any of the key issues such as their continuing links with the al-Qaeda or their agenda to reestablish the Islamic Emirate… Apparently, all that the US extracted out of …

The threat of violent extremists attacking the United States or allies from Afghanistan has been greatly reduced over the past 20 years, and any remaining threat emanating from the country can be addressed without a persistent U.S. military presence there, DOD officials told the House Armed Services Committee today. President …

Right now international experts are observing Afghanistan with great interest. Experts are assuming that after American troops withdraw, civil war will break out in Afghanistan, following which some neighboring countries will also involve themselves in a proxy war. As a result, there will be political tension in the region surrounding …

The US and NATO began their withdrawal from Afghanistan on 1 May, with the security situation in the country little better now than it was after the 2001 invasion. US President Joe Biden, in his announcement of the withdrawal in April, called on Russia, China and India to step up …

For better or worse, the United States military is leaving Afghanistan. Proponents for withdrawal argue the U.S. has done all it can militarily in the country, has more pressing security interests elsewhere and may do more harm than good by staying. Critics say the power vacuum the U.S. is leaving …

The Taliban have announced a nationwide cease-fire in Afghanistan that will take effect when the three-day annual Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr begins Thursday, marking the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. The announcement follows a spike in attacks by the Islamist insurgent group against government forces across many …

The Afghan government said it plans to begin talks with 14 countries to discuss what to do with hundreds of their citizens who have been captured while fighting alongside the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Ahmad Zia Seraj, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said …