Ariana: The United States would invade Afghanistan even if al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden left the country, Maulavi Abdul Kabir, [Taliban] deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said on Wednesday. “It was the zeal of our Amir-ul-Mominin that he didn’t leave something that would taunt us, which would be handing over
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 10, 2023 ISLAMABAD — A senior U.S. official says the Biden administration is “working tirelessly every day” to ensure the Taliban stick to their pledges to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for transnational terrorists. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the matter with reporters aboard Air Force One
Michael Hughes: Once the Soviets left in 1989, Afghanistan at whiplash speed became an afterthought in the corridors of power in Washington, a forgetfulness that came even easier after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the start of Gulf War I. The oblivion was especially pronounced at the top, evidenced in a conversation the
Tolo News: The House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul in a statement reacted to US President Biden’s recent remarks on al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, saying that “it is completely divorced from reality for President Biden to claim that al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan or that the Taliban has somehow become our national
Patsy Widakuswara VOA News July 3, 2023 WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after the chaotic American military withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden’s statement that the Taliban is helping the U.S. push out al-Qaida from the war-torn country is reigniting controversy about the presence of terror groups there and the deal that ended the Afghan war.
Ariana: Late Friday, a defiant US President Joe Biden, said in answer to a question, on the report, that was shouted out by a journalist as he walked out of a press conference: “Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d
Roshan Noorzai VOA News June 26, 2023 WASHINGTON — For more than 15 years, Qari Baryal has been on a special list of Washington’s “most-wanted” Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan, accused of carrying out bombing and suicide attacks across the country. Baryal and the militants he oversaw were “involved in the supervision of IED [improvised
Jeff Seldin VOA News June 14, 2023 WASHINGTON — There is mounting, controversial evidence that Afghanistan is rapidly turning into a cauldron for terrorist activity, with both al-Qaida and the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate growing substantially, in numbers and capabilities, without U.S. or Western forces on the ground. The dire assessment, shared in a
Ayaz Gul VOA News June 11, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Taliban leaders in Afghanistan pushed back Sunday against a new United Nations assessment that they face internal power struggles and maintain a strong link with international terrorist groups. In a statement, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denounced as baseless and “full of prejudice” the report that the
Tolo News: According to the report, the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region, and “there are indications that al-Qaida is rebuilding operational capability.” “The Taliban, in power as the de facto authorities in Afghanistan under Hibatullah Akhundzada, have reverted to the exclusionary, Pashtun-centred, autocratic policies of the Taliban administration of