Michael Hughes: Although the Taliban at the moment may not need weapons from Rawalpindi due to the gifts left behind by the U.S. military, Afghanistan needs Pakistan as an export market, while Islamabad, for its part, needs the regime in Kabul to deny the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) sanctuary. However, despite these mutual strategic necessities, tensions
Sarah Zaman VOA News October 7, 2022 WASHINGTON — A recently concluded six-day visit to Washington by Pakistan’s powerful military head, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, is being seen in both countries as a sign that Islamabad is seeking to mend sometimes-strained relations with the West. Public statements released by officials from both
Tolo News: The Chargé d’Affaires of the US Mission to Afghanistan, Karen Decker, said there is no chance that Washington would re-engage militarily in Afghanistan. The Chargé d’Affaires of the US Mission to Afghanistan said that Washington will use all diplomatic and political efforts to hold the “Taliban to its commitment to respect human life,
LA Times: The Times interviewed two dozen people about the issue, including interpreters, U.S. supervisors, advocates and lawyers, and reviewed hundreds of pages of internal State Department communications, government reports and visa applications. The interpreters who spoke to The Times said their visa petitions were denied despite receiving positive reviews from their military supervisors. In
Khaama: The United States special envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West said he fears Afghanistan “could see a return to civil war in time”, calling the need for “political dialogue” in national level. Without a serious “national political dialogue” about the future of the country among Afghans who have “genuine support in their community, I really
Khaama: Taliban government authorities assert that US drones invaded Afghanistan through the airspace of Pakistan. They claim that Pakistan receives millions of dollars in return. In a meeting commemorating World Tourism Day, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Political Deputy of the Taliban government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that Pakistan had allowed the US to use
Economic Times: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Washington would be providing Afghanistan with $327 million in much-needed aid. The aid comes as the country’s humanitarian crisis has continued for more than one year since the Taliban took over. Blinken issued a statement Friday last week announcing the additional $327
Xinhua: What Afghans say about U.S. aid to their country: -“America’s 20-year presence in Afghanistan had no results. All of them were here for their own interests.” -“U.S. gave the aid because of the expansion of its hegemony, presence and survival in Afghanistan. When U.S. left Afghanistan, it took everything away.” -“The U.S. presence in
FP: Omar Joya, an economist formerly with the World Bank and Afghanistan’s central bank, described the Afghan Fund as a “windfall” for the Taliban, saying it effectively pays their bills while relieving them of responsibility for managing an economy suffering from the political shock of the republic’s fall as well as natural disasters that have
8am: Taliban officials have called the release of Haji Bashir Ahmad Noorzai, known as Haji Bashar, as a sign of American goodwill and a “new chapter in the relations” between the Taliban and the United States. Haji Bashar is known in the media and political circles as the godfather of Afghanistan’s drug mafia. It is