The Conversation: For the past two years, Paul Brereton, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and Army Reserve major general, has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of members of the SAS in Afghanistan. While the findings are not yet known, leaks from within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have suggested that as many
Ahmad Mohibi via The Diplomat: Vice President Dostum’s return to Afghanistan underlines the complexity of the battle for political influence. The underlying problem in Afghanistan is longstanding ethnic conflict and fears. Throughout history, Pashtuns predominantly ruled the nation and considered themselves the dominant ethnic group — but were not the majority of the population… The technocrats – represented
Shazar Shafqat via The Hill: The Taliban only needs to avoid losing in order to remain intact, whereas the U.S. forces need to win every time, all the time. That’s why — despite having scored several tactical level victories in Afghanistan — a strategic level victory has always eluded the United States. That’s why the idea
The Washington Post: A new administration initiative — an attempt to jump-start peace talks by opening a direct dialogue between U.S. and Taliban officials — deserves cautious support. If it can be pursued without undermining the government of Ashraf Ghani, it is worth a try. Click here to read more (external link).
Maha Akeel via Arab News: More than 100 Muslim scholars from around the world — including about 40 from Afghanistan itself, representing the diversity of the nation’s sects, ethnicities and regions — participated in the conference held in Jeddah and Makkah. For a country where more than 99 percent of the population is Muslim and which
Michael Hughes: The Islamic State terrorist group’s local affiliate in Afghanistan – IS-Khorasan – has grown stronger despite the U.S. and its allies dramatically increasing the tempo of airstrikes and loosening the rules of engagement. In fact, the terror group’s success makes U.S. President Donald Trump’s prediction of “victory” against ISIS in Afghanistan seem like pure
DAWN (Pakistan): According to a report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Afghan women still have minimal access to justice, often fail to get redress and honour crimes, even when reported, are rarely punished. In particular, the report details how mechanisms such as ‘mediation’ and pressure not to file actual cases end
Michael Hughes: A U.S. drone operator amid the first ceasefire Afghanistan has ever witnessed decided to launch a projectile into Kunar province to vaporize a morally repugnant Pakistani Taliban leader. The point, however, is not whether the mission succeeded or if he on the receiving end of the strike were target-worthy. The point is what was
Al Jazeera (Ahmed Rashid): It appears that pressure from Pakistan on the Taliban Shura which largely resides in the Pakistani border town of Quetta has been instrumental in pushing the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire. According to Lisa Curtis, deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump, Washington has been pursuing “multiple lines of effort” for bringing peace to Afghanistan
The Diplomat: The concept of special economic zones in Afghanistan is not intentional, rather accidental. The scheduled withdrawal plan of U.S. and NATO forces in 2014 left a huge amount of infrastructure to Afghan forces. This included $2 billion worth of infrastructure and equipment at eight strategic airfields in the country, equipped with sophisticated machinery and a well-developed