The Tribune: “America is delegitimising democracy in Afghanistan. They want a puppet democracy. They are pushing Ghani (Ashraf Ghani) to give up the election. The Taliban is getting what they want. Pakistan is playing clever. They think that delegitimising democracy would create chaos in Afghanistan. Pakistan is maestro of chaos.” Click here to read more (external
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 25, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is commending outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump for initiating the landmark peace process aimed at ending the Afghan conflict, America’s longest war. “It is after a long time that there is a prospect of [Afghan] peace. … It was a great
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 14, 2020 Frud Bezhan Afghan officials have been angered and alienated by what they view as U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a hasty military pullout from Afghanistan without a comprehensive peace settlement. Many in Kabul put their hopes on his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, winning the November 3 presidential
Yun Sun via warontherocks.com: With the U.S. troop withdrawal in sight, Afghanistan’s future seems less certain than ever. As a neighboring state with significant interests at stake, how does China view and prepare for Afghanistan’s future? The enhancement of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan will not only indirectly contribute to China’s influence but also potentially improve
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 23, 2020 In the mid-1990s, U.S. oil company Unocal attempted to secure a gas-pipeline deal with the Taliban, which had seized control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, after a devastating civil war. It was the United States’ first attempt to forge a partnership with the fundamentalist Taliban regime,
Press TV March 2, 2020 Taliban will not take part in intra-Afghan talks unless about 5,000 of its prisoners are released, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says, against the backdrop of a recently signed tentative peace agreement between the United States and the militant group. The Taliban spokesman said on Monday that the majority of the prisoners
Tolo News: Any reservations Afghanistan has with Islamabad should be resolved bilaterally rather than involving the United States, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Sunday, in reference to part of a joint US-Afghan declaration on peace efforts.“They should talk directly to Pakistan. The US is planning to withdraw and we will always remain neighbors,” Foreign Minister
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 1, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump says American troops will “immediately” begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan following the signing of a historic agreement with the Taliban that could end the country’s 18-year war. “Today — They will start immediately,” Trump told reporters at the White House on February 29 when
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement Saturday in Doha, Qatar, setting the stage for ending a nearly 19-year-old war in Afghanistan and bringing back home thousands of American troops deployed there. U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the
Michael Hughes: In 2003, then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad, with the full backing of the CIA, rendered Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga to a farce by strong-arming aside King Zahir Shah and anointing as president State Department darling Hamid Karzai. Now Zalmay, as special U.S. envoy, is once again guilty of foreign election interference