South East Asia

Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefited Taliban

Built and trained at a two-decade cost of $83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely — in some cases without a shot fired — that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turned out to be the Taliban. They grabbed not only political power but also U.S.-supplied …

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Taliban Says the ‘War is Over in Afghanistan’

The spokesman for the Taliban‘s political office told Al-Jazeera Mubasher TV on Sunday that the war is over in Afghanistan and that the type of rule and the form of regime will be clear soon. Spokesman Mohammad Naeem said that no diplomatic body or any of its headquarters was targeted, …

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Ashraf Ghani and the Fate of Afghanistan

On August 11, 2021, Pakistan’s Prime Minster Imran Khan said, “I tried to persuade the Taliban… three to four months back when they came here…The condition is that as long as [Afghanistan’s President] Ashraf Ghani is there, we [Taliban] are not going to talk to the Afghan government.” Three days …

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Leaves Country As Taliban Forces Enter Kabul

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Taliban has left Afghanistan, just hours after the insurgency’s forces surrounded the nation’s capital city of Kabul Sunday — all but ensuring the collapse of the national government and a return to rule by the insurgent group for the first time in two decades. Ghani and …

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Afghan President Ghani Flees Country as Taliban Enter Kabul: ‘It’s Over’

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as Taliban militants entered the capital city of Kabul. Ghani flew to neighboring Tajikistan, a senior Afghan Interior Ministry official told Reuters. However, the Afghan president’s office said it “cannot say anything about Ashraf Ghani’s movement for security reasons.” “That’s it. …

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Afghanistan debacle message for US allies, including Israel – analysis

We know what that shop looks like in places like Lebanon, it’s a bankrupt operation. The US needs to reassure allies that it will stick by the region in this difficult time. The rapid fall of Afghanistan and the way in which US political and military officials, as well as …

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Unpredictable consequences from the Afghan crisis

As China, Russia, Iran and others rise to the occasion, the ascent of the Taliban may signal a post-American world order The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the rapid advance of the Taliban are not necessarily a simple cause and effect. The US had very few troops in Afghanistan, and …

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US troops return to Afghanistan as regime disintegrates

The first of some 3,000 US soldiers and Marines ordered by the Biden administration back into Afghanistan began arriving at Kabul’s international airport Friday as six more of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals were overrun by the Taliban, bringing the total to 18 that have fallen to the insurgency. Another 4,000 US …

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UK Foreign Aid Cuts and an Afghan Refugee Crisis

The UK government should maintain aid spending in Afghanistan, especially after the troop withdrawal. The decision by the UK government to cut foreign aid will have devastating consequences, particularly in Afghanistan where the security situation is deteriorating. The cuts signal that the UK government has not learned from history, where …

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The Resurgence of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan

The TTP has experienced a reversal of fortunes, in part thanks to the changing circumstances within Afghanistan. Since its inception in 2007, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been the largest and most active armed opposition group in Pakistan. It was formed by several small groups operating in the tribal areas …

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