Foreign Policy: The bodies are piling up in Afghanistan as the Taliban claim to be wiping the country clean of a resurgent Islamic State in a campaign that should be music to the ears of the U.S. military, counterterrorism, and intelligence communities, which regard the Islamic State as a major threat to homeland and global
Akmal Dawi VOA News March 14, 2023 Despite conspicuous differences with the United States over many issues, Russia, China and Iran appear to share Washington’s concerns about terrorism threats from Afghanistan as they call on the de facto Taliban regime to fulfill counterterror promises. Alleged terrorist groups based in Afghanistan have plotted and executed attacks
Khaama: The former US special representative for the reconciliation in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that Iran “would be the centre of Al-Qaeda,” impacting Iran’s ties with the rest of the world. In an interview with Tolonews, Khalilzad said Iran would serve as the group’s centre more than anywhere else. “Once Afghanistan was a centre for
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 15, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The chief diplomat in Afghanistan’s ruling Islamist Taliban has rejected as baseless Russia’s allegations that thousands of Islamic State militants have gathered in northern Afghanistan and threaten the stability of the Central Asian region. “How come thousands of such people are concentrated in one place and still
Outlook: While Al Qaeda is regrouping in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) is also carrying out unabated attacks across Afghanistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is also present in Afghanistan. Unless the Taliban acts against such groups, Afghanistan risks once again becoming a terror hub and a danger to all of its neighbours.
HSToday: When U.S. troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over the government, world leaders and others braced themselves for what the future might hold for Afghanistan and its citizens. Many feared the worst, and the Taliban did not disappoint. It claimed to have reformed its ways but, with a long history of
Jamestown Foundation: The most significant question that arose in the wake of his death concerned the origin of the drone that killed him. It certainly was not from inside Afghanistan. But was it from neighboring Pakistan or some other country? And would Pakistan allow the U.S to use its airspace for a strike on al-Zawahiri
Deccan Herald: Rawalpindi has used geography and geopolitics and its perceived influence over the Taliban to its advantage to reclaim its most-favoured ally status – In the months before the brutal assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the commander of the India-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, two days before the Al Qaida’s attacks on New York’s
Mehr News Agency: Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, Zahra Ershadi expressed concern over the reports on the resurgence of ISIL-affiliated terrorist groups in Afghanistan. “The de-facto authorities must commit to fighting terrorism and ensure to take all appropriate steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises against any intrusion or
Amin Saikal via aspistrategist.org.au: As the world marks the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks this weekend, two other events should be remembered. Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated on 9 September 2001 by al-Qaeda agents, two days before the attacks on New York and Washington. Massoud had fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in