By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 16, 2020 The Taliban’s burgeoning financial might could make the militant group immune to pressure from the international community as it negotiates a role in postwar Afghanistan, according to a confidential report commissioned by NATO and obtained by RFE/RL. The Taliban “has achieved, or is close to achieving,
1TV: Some years ago, Taliban leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada had sent a delegation to Helmand province for peace talks, but the president said the government was not ready, former chairman of High Peace Council, Karim Khalili, said on Sunday. Click here to read more (external link). Related Peace doesn’t mean power sharing: Ghani
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 27, 2020 Mohammad Yaqoob was virtually unknown five years ago when the Taliban disclosed the mysterious death of his father and its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar. The Taliban acknowledged that its spiritual leader had been dead for more than two years, soon after Afghan intelligence said he had
Ariana: The Taliban’s leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada stated Tuesday that the group is on the threshold of “establishing a pure Islamic government” and warned the United States and the international community to take the Doha-agreement seriously and “stop creating further problems”. He said in his Eid ul-Adha message: “Our Jihad was and continues to be
Atlantic Council: 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 felt the impact as much as the Taliban. The group’s leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, is either seriously ill with the virus or possibly dead. Sirajuddin Haqqani,
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan June 2, 2020 Taliban officials have denied a report that its leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, died after contracting the coronavirus. Foreign Policy magazine, citing unnamed Taliban officials, reported on June 1 that Mullah Akhundzada contracted COVID-19 and possibly died while receiving treatment abroad. Foreign Policy quoted Mawlawi Mohammad Ali Jan Ahmad, a senior
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 21, 2020 U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has urged a reduction in violence “by all sides” in Afghanistan, saying innocent Afghans are bearing too much of the brunt of the war. Khalilzad, the architect of a February agreement with the Taliban clearing the way for a U.S. troop withdrawal,
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan May 20, 2020 KABUL — U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in Kabul to press the Taliban and Afghan government to start delayed talks amid an uptick in violence — including two more deadly attacks overnight — that threatens to unravel a landmark peace deal between Washington and the militants
Ayaz Gul VOA News March 7, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The Taliban says its peace pact with the United States does not alter the status of the insurgent group’s supreme leader as the “lawful ruler” of Afghanistan, saying he is duty-bound by religion to establish an “Islamic government” after foreign “occupation” troops exit the country. The
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, setting the stage for ending a nearly 19-year-old war in Afghanistan and bringing back home thousands of American troops deployed there. U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the