On 29 February, the Taliban and the U.S. signed an agreement that commits the U.S. to a fourteen-month phased withdrawal of military forces in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a safe harbour for terrorists. The agreement also obligates the Taliban to commence peace negotiations with the Afghan government and other Afghan power-brokers.

The Afghan government has criticized the Taliban for rejecting Kabul’s negotiating team for upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war.

Insurgents launched major assaults as preparations continued for a prisoner exchange and as diplomats worked to revive the peace plan.

The Taliban declined on Saturday to begin talks with the Afghan government’s new negotiating team in a setback to the U.S.-brokered peace process for one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.

Last week, al-Qaeda websites and social media channels shared an audio message from Khalid Batarfi, a U.S.-designated terrorist who was recently named the new emir of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Since its official formation in January 2015, the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan has risen to prominence as one of its most dangerous affiliates, making it one of the world’s top four deadliest militant organizations in 2018. Islamic State Khorasan’s (ISK) ascendency, however, has not come without heavy costs. Since 2015, a variety of state-led operations against ISK […]

In response to the militants mounting assaults, Afghan forces on Sunday killed more than 50 insurgents in past 24 hours.

More than 25 Afghan soldiers and policemen were killed in a Taliban attack on an outpost in the southwestern Afghan province of Zabul. Taliban fighters coordinated with police sympathizers to execute the operation.

Twenty years ago, India let Masood Azhar go. Now he and his jihadist group may be one of the greatest obstacles to resolving the crisis in Kashmir.

The head of U.S. Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, suggested that the spate of Taliban attacks throughout Afghanistan may be caused by a Taliban “splinter.” McKenzie’s suggestion is contradicted by the Taliban itself, which claims dozens of daily attacks on its official website.