Amin Saikal: The endurance reflected in the oft-quoted Taliban taunt to the Americans, ‘You have the watches, but we have the time’, is evidently paying off. The United States and its allies have reached a point of exhaustion in Afghanistan. President Donald Trump, a longstanding critic of America’s Afghan adventure, has firmly acted to bring
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 12, 2020 The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was backed by most countries in the region, who shared the goal of ousting the extremist Taliban regime and eliminating the allied Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The governments in Tehran, Moscow, and Islamabad readily helped the United States fight the
The National Interest: First and foremost… Pakistan should no longer allow its soil to be used as a safe-haven for Taliban leaders. After the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the late Mulla Omar, founder of the Taliban, lived in Quetta and headed the so-called Quetta Shura. The Peshawar Shura has long supported the Haqqani Network,
ANI: About 6,500 Pakistani’s are operating as terrorist ranks in Afghanistan, posing a significant threat to the peace, stability and security of the war-torn country and South Asia region, stated a UN Security Council report. The report released by Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, concerning the Taliban and other associated individuals and entities, published
News Intervention: On June 9, Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa went to Afghanistan, unannounced. This is the first visit by a prominent Pakistani after the US-Taliban peace deal in February this year. It’s also the first prominent Pakistani visit after the results of Afghanistan elections… it’s clear that Pakistan’s ISI and their senior
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 9, 2020 A new breakaway Afghan Taliban faction that has close ties to neighboring Iran and opposes efforts aimed at ending the 18-year insurgency in Afghanistan has emerged. The Hezb-e Walayat-e Islami, or Party of Islamic Guardianship, is believed to have split from the mainstream Taliban soon after
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News | June 9, 2020 ISLAMABAD – In a continuation of a U.S.-led push to encourage intra-Afghan negotiations, Pakistan’s army chief took a one-day trip to Kabul Tuesday. General Qamar Javed Bajwa met in the Afghan capital with both President Ashraf Ghani and the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, the man who would lead future
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 8, 2020 The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has held a new round of talks in Qatar with the Taliban’s political chief. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a spokesman for the militants, said on Twitter late on June 7 that Khalilzad and Baradar discussed the release of prisoners and the start
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal June 6, 2020 Pakistan has appointed a new envoy to Afghanistan in a fresh bid to ease tense bilateral relations. Pakistani media said the new envoy, Muhammad Sadiq, a career diplomat, met with Foreign Minister Mehmood Quraishi in Islamabad on June 6. Afterwards, Quraishi expressed hope that Sadiq would be able to
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 31, 2020 By Frud Bezhan After 18 years of fighting, the Afghan war is at a deadly stalemate. Afghanistan is divided up among government forces backed by international troops, the Taliban and its militant allies, the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, and a collection of smaller foreign terrorist groups. The United