Michael Hughes: Ex-Afghan spy chief and former VP, Amrullah Saleh, has applauded Pakistan’s military chief for refusing to conceal how Rawalpindi really feels about Afghanistan. Earlier this week, Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir bluntly said when it comes to Pakistan’s security, “the whole of Afghanistan can be damned.” “The only aspect of surprise is the way this statement
8am: Given Mullah Hibatullah’s significance in the Taliban’s leadership hierarchy, ensuring his security is a top priority for the group. Those responsible for protecting him have not yet concluded that his life is not seriously endangered, allowing him to appear in public, and his images and videos to be disseminated… The seclusion of Mullah Hibatullah
WP: Across Afghanistan, child marriages have skyrocketed, and not only because of economic collapse. Families once hoped that their daughters, when educated, might find good work and contribute to the family income. Today, under the Taliban’s ever-increasing restrictions, school is prohibited for girls after the sixth grade, and work options for women are few. Click
Foreign Affairs: How Islamabad’s Expulsions of Afghans Could Backfire—and Help the Taliban… Although Pakistan has reason to be angry with its Afghan Taliban allies, the country’s terror problem is the direct result of its military’s decision to differentiate between the “good” Afghan Taliban and the “bad” Pakistani Taliban, overlooking their inextricable connections. The policy aimed
Michael Hughes: Elements within the U.S. political and military establishment long shared with the Islamic State a common foe: Iran. More specifically, Qassem Soleimani, the ex-Quds Force chief assassinated by the U.S. on January 3, 2020 whose memorial service IS-K attacked earlier this week. One need not be a conspiracy theorist to submit that power
Michael Hughes: The rulers in Kabul from an “official” perspective have a level of plausible deniability with respect to the recent attack on a military barracks in northwest Pakistan. That is, as of now, there is no direct evidence the current de facto Afghan government was involved in the attack’s planning, resourcing, and/or execution. The
8am: Ashraf Ghani destroyed the institutions, which ultimately at the end of his rule, most of the ministries and directorates had been stripped of their authority, with the competing parallel departments neutralizing each other’s influence. During Ashraf Ghani’s era, the army experienced extreme management instability and most generals and military officials did not feel job
Michael Hughes: New Delhi’s policy towards Kabul since the Taliban takeover would probably impress the likes of one of the most famous realist practitioners in modern history – Henry Kissinger, who passed away at the age of 100 this week. Hindu nationalist India’s nuanced approach to the radical Sunni regime is in one sense somewhat
WarontheRocks: Contradicting Biden’s assessment, the Taliban’s 2021 ascension reinvigorated al-Qaeda’s Afghan operations. Al-Qaeda commanders are back in Afghanistan, swiftly reactivating the group’s presence. Training camps are now operational in five provinces, including Zabul and Nuristan, areas that Osama bin Laden once earmarked as crucial for al-Qaeda. In Nuristan, these camps are actively training suicide bombers,
Michael Hughes: The U.S. State Department shrugged its collective shoulders, so to speak, and seemed to say “not my problem” when pressed on the Taliban siphoning large portions of American humanitarian aid. Instead of taking any responsibility, the U.S. suggested international aid organizations should be blamed for getting ripped off by the radical movement. On