euro news: The former German chancellor was the last witness to testify before a parliamentary inquiry committee on the German military’s role in the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan during the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday that the hasty withdrawal of Western troops from
The Spectator: Since withdrawing, the United States has pumped in more than $20 billion in aid. Separately, tens of millions of dollars are delivered monthly in cash, ostensibly for humanitarian organisations, though much is pilfered by the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, a regional affairs expert, argued that Afghanistan’s neighbors have never viewed the Taliban strategically but have been compelled by geography to maintain ties with the group. According to Rahimi, these countries’ experiences with the Taliban have shown that they cannot trust the group domestically or regionally. Rahimi also stated that the
Afghanistan International: Yue Xiaoyong, China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, announced that Beijing has provided about $64 million in aid to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in three years. According to SIGAR, the United States has also sent more than $3 billion to Afghanistan during this period. US aid to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the past three years has been
Michael Hughes: The Taliban stroked President Donald Trump’s ego with a love letter that directly led to the administration’s decision to accelerate negotiations, strike the Doha deal, and withdraw forces from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year conflict. However, the Trump 2.0 administration is dangerous because the man does not need to get re-elected. Trump does not
By Muhammad Murad via The Diplomat: In Trump, Afghanistan sees a familiar face – the man who threw them into this chaos. The de facto rulers of Afghanistan, however, see a different picture. Taliban leaders see a man who gave in to their demands and agreed to negotiate with them directly without considering the erstwhile
Afghanistan International: US President-elect Donald Trump has named Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defence. Hegseth was deployed to Afghanistan with the US Army National Guard between 2011 and 2012 and spent 10 months at Camp Julien in Kabul. In 2019, during Donald Trump’s first presidency, he called on
Ariana: John Sopko, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), has called for the agency to be closed due to the Islamic Emirate’s takeover of the country and the reduction in assistance. Sopko has recommended to the Office of Management and Budget in the White House that SIGAR’s oversight operations be ceased on
Amu: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. special envoy for Afghan reconciliation, expressed optimism that Donald Trump’s potential return to the presidency presents an opportunity to fully enact the Doha Agreement, a deal aimed at facilitating a peaceful resolution in Afghanistan. “With Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, there is an opportunity for full implementation of