The Future of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan & Pakistan

The recent killing of the deputy chief of al Qaeda’s Pakistani cadre, Muhammad Hanif (aka Zarar), whom the Afghan Taliban had sheltered, shows that even within al Qaeda, Taliban-allied Pakistani jihadists ...

'Our Houses Are Not Safe': Residents Fear Taliban In Afghanistan's Capital

In a mosque on the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, a preacher crowed to assembled men and boys: The Taliban, with their primitive guns, brought foreign forces to their knees, he said, and the ...

‘Covid Can’t Compete.’ In a Place Mired in War, the Virus Is an Afterthought.

In Afghanistan, life goes on as though the coronavirus never existed. “Fake news,” some say, even as a second wave has brought on a surge of new cases and hospitalizations.

A U.S.-Backed Militia That Kills Children May Be America’s Exit Strategy From Its Longest War

THE CIA’S AFGHAN DEATH SQUADS

A neighbor watching from a window across the street saw a flash and heard a loud explosion as the front gate of the madrassa was blown open. Inside, the noise awakened 12-year-old Bilal, who was huddled ...

America can't stay in Afghanistan forever, but it matters how we leave

As President Trump seeks to draw down US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, some have argued the decision is about bringing an end to America's endless wars. But the real issue is how to create enduring ...

US, Russia share a complex and bloody history in Afghanistan

Moscow and Washington are intertwined in a complex and bloody history in Afghanistan, with both suffering thousands of dead and wounded in conflicts lasting for years.

Russia denies supplying weapons to Afghanistan's Taliban

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Moscow has never delivered weapons to the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, countering U.S. allegations.

Israeli annexation plan goes wrong amid internal rifts, intl. backlash

​Today is the first of July and Israel's much-publicized scheme to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley has not gone exactly as planned amid widening differences within the Israeli ruling ...

Iranian, Qatari Diplomats Hold Talks on Afghanistan Developments

​Iran and Qatar’s special envoys for Afghanistan held a meeting in Doha, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran said.

Russia Foreign Ministry: NYT article on Russia in Afghanistan fake from US intelligence

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed to US intelligence agencies’ involvement in Afghan drug trafficking.

Ghosts of the Past: Lessons from Local Force Mobilization in Afghanistan and Prospects for the Future

Since 2001, the international military and the Afghan state have mobilized a range of local, hybrid, and sub-state forces to fill security gaps and confront insurgent threats in the country.

Coronavirus overwhelms Afghanistan’s war-ravaged hospitals

As coronavirus spreads in Afghanistan, the cracks in the country's healthcare system - already weakened by decades of war - are starting to show. BBC Pakistan and Afghanistan Correspondent Secunder Kermani ...

US envoy to Afghanistan not going to Kabul

​The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, will not be going to the Afghan capital, Kabul, while in the region on his latest peace mission because of the dangers presented by the coronavirus ...

A divided Taliban could unleash a new proxy war in Afghanistan

​The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming international relations not just by straining relations among powerful states, but also by disrupting violent nonstate actors. Perhaps no major militant outfit has ...

'There hasn't been rehabilitation': Afghanistan struggles with fate of 'Daesh wives'

The Afghan government is facing hard decisions over the futures of hundreds of detained radicalised women and their children.

Mortar Strikes Kill at Least 20 at Livestock Auction in Afghanistan

The government and the Taliban pointed blame at each other in the latest attack. But in this war, there is diminishing clarity on who is to blame for the bodies piling up.

Keeping a Bad Deal at All Costs: US Moral Failure in Afghanistan

U.S. policy toward Afghanistan has been short-sighted and ill-conceived for decades.

‘The numbers do not add up.’

Afghanistan’s missing coronavirus patients: Women

High coronavirus infection rates among health workers – and lopsidedly low numbers among women – are raising fears that Afghan women are missing out on healthcare while their exposure to the virus goes ...

Coronavirus sweeps through Afghanistan’s security forces

The novel coronavirus is sweeping through Afghanistan's security forces, according to senior Afghan security officials from four provinces who report suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among ...

Afghan media reject new rules they say could hurt press freedom

Proposed amendment to law would require journalists to reveal sources to government bodies including security agencies.