Afghanistan International: In August 2007, a Pakistani helicopter transferred about 27 detainees to Dera Ismail Khan before proceeding to Wana. One of the detainees on board was Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani. Last year, on December 11, he was killed by an ISIS suicide bomber inside his ministry, yet the ambiguous aspects of that incident remain unclear even
Defense one: More than $148 billion was spent by the U.S. government in its failed attempt to build a free Afghanistan, according to the final report by the official watchdog office, whose careful documentation of waste and fraud, and its warnings of Taliban resurgence, went largely unheeded. For 17 years, the Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan International: Former Pakistani senator Mushahid Hussain has said that an overwhelming majority of Afghans are dissatisfied with Taliban rule, describing the group’s governance as “medieval.” Hussain said Afghanistan’s current crisis dates back half a century to the overthrow of King Mohammad Zahir Shah. He argued that Zahir Shah had been the “axis of stability”
8am: For more than a century, since the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan, Afghan politics has revolved around a recurring pattern: to preserve stability, the center of power co-opts part of the ethnic elite while sidelining the rest. I call this the “Abdur Rahman Scenario”: concentration at the center, concession at the margins, and the
Amu: Mohammad Rafi, a former Afghan defense minister and senior official in the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, died on Sunday in Germany at the age of 79 after a long illness, family members confirmed. Rafi played a role in the 1973 coup led by Mohammad Daoud Khan, which ended the monarchy and established Afghanistan’s
The Print: Pakistan massively enhanced the funding for Islamists in Afghanistan, hoping to bury ethnic nationalism. That strategy has now backfired spectacularly. Islamabad faces terrorists far better armed and equipped than ever in the past, who display the same contempt for borders that their ancestors did. Click here to read more (external link).
Khaama: U.S. President Donald Trump said his country “could have easily won” the war in Afghanistan, but political considerations prevented a decisive victory. Speaking at a ceremony marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy in Virginia, Trump claimed that America had the military capability to win any conflict but had chosen restraint for political
8am: Twenty-four years ago, on September 9, 2001, Afghanistan lost one of its most renowned political and military figures. Born in the shadow of the Hindu Kush Mountains, Ahmad Shah Massoud began his struggle as a guerrilla fighter against the Soviet Red Army and, over time, emerged as one of the leading commanders of the
Ariana: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has commemorated 31 August as the anniversary of the withdrawal of the last American soldier from the country, describing it as a “proud and historic” milestone for the Afghan nation. In a statement issued on this occasion, Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, said: “31 August symbolizes
Amu: Taliban have begun rebuilding the monument of Ali-Shir Nawa’i, a famed 15th-century poet and scholar, in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh province, after its demolition drew strong criticism from cultural figures and Uzbekistan’s government. The monument, located in Mazar-e-Sharif, was torn down this week, prompting outrage from local communities, Afghan civil society groups, and