The New Yorker: They fought for decades to retake Afghanistan, but promises of a new start are already colliding with internal divisions and external opposition. “They will do anything to convince the international community to give them financing, but eventually I’ll be forced to wear the burqa again. They are just waiting.” Click here to
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS February 2, 2022 Powerful U.S. lawmakers and other influencers in Washington are attempting to pressure the Biden administration into launching “over-the-horizon” airstrikes inside post-NATO Afghanistan amid concerns international terrorist groups are growing stronger by the day. Yet as feared as the terrorist threat is, launching such operations – especially at this point
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 31, 2022 U.S. President Joe Biden on January 30 called on the Taliban to release American civil engineer and contractor Mark Frerichs as he reaches the two-year mark since his abduction in Kabul. Frerichs, a U.S. Navy veteran, is thought to be in the captivity of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.
8am: In an interview with Al Jazeera news channel, the Taliban acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said that if the United States did not recognize them, they would continue to threaten the US. Haqqani said, “By refusing to recognize the Taliban, the US is keeping the doors of hostility against the Afghan people wide open.” Click
Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 25, 2021 The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the lightning collapse of the internationally recognized government in Kabul in August spelled the end of the West’s nearly 20-year foothold in the war-torn country. Now, with the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, other
Ariana: Members of the Haqqani family and Paktia residents have laid the first foundation stone for a new madrassa, that will be named after the network’s founding father Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani. The religious studies school will be built on four acres of land in Gardez city in Paktia province and is being sponsored by local
WSJ: Undercover Taliban agents—often clean-shaven, dressed in jeans and sporting sunglasses—spent years infiltrating Afghan government ministries, universities, businesses and aid organizations. Then, as U.S. forces were completing their withdrawal in August, these operatives stepped out of the shadows in Kabul and other big cities across Afghanistan, surprising their neighbors and colleagues. Pulling their weapons from
Ariana: Alam Gul Haqqani, head of the General Directorate of Passports, said late Monday in a video message that processing of passports at the office in Kabul has been suspended until further notice. He attributed the decision to a technical problem – specifically with the biometric system. Click here to read more (external link).
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 4, 2021 During its 20-year insurgency, the Taliban employed suicide bombers as a lethal tool to kill foreign and Afghan government troops and terrorize the civilian population. Even now, as the Taliban attempts to transform from an insurgency into a government, its contingent of trained suicide bombers
By Daud Khattak Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 3, 2021 Pakistan is holding secret talks with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group over a cease-fire, sources have told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal. That is despite the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, publicly denying a claim by Islamabad last month that the sides were in