Bloomberg: Taliban leaders would not hold power in Kabul today if not for Pakistani support. The haven that Taliban commanders, their families and their fighters received within Pakistan allowed the insurgents — devastated and scattered by the initial U.S. invasion in 2001 — to rebuild their ranks. For nearly two decades, elements within the Pakistani
Afrasiab Khattak via Prothomalo: Pakistani focus on Pashtun Taliban is to weaken Pashtun nationalism on both sides of the Durand Line. That’s what motivates the predominantly Punjabi generals of Pakistan army in supporting Talibanization of Pashtuns. But the exclusion of other important ethnic groups will deepen the ethnic fault lines in Afghanistan leading to serious
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 16, 2021 Thousands of Taliban militants encircled Kabul as fear and panic swept through the capital, its residents bracing for a bloody takeover of the city and a return to an oppressive life under the militant Islamist group. Amid the chaos on the clogged streets and the teeming