Until August 31, we will attempt to provide our readers with a daily SITREP on Afghanistan, based on information we believe is credible, along with a brief analysis providing some measure of context. Explosions Outside Kabul’s Airport An explosion took place a few minutes ago today, outside Kabul’s airport. Unconfirmed reports speak of three wounded U.S. servicemembers. The Taliban’s spokesperson […]

On 15 August, the Taliban capped their drive for power in Afghanistan by taking Kabul, the country’s capital, for the first time since they ruled most of the country from 1996 to 2001. With the previous government’s collapse, the group is now the de facto power throughout the country and is in the process of forming a new government and […]

La comunidad internacional debería intentar mantener un pasillo humanitario abierto incluso si EEUU se desentiende a partir del 31 de agosto El derrumbamiento súbito del régimen afgano ante el avance talibán convirtió la retirada de las fuerzas de Estados Unidos en una huida contra reloj, en la que se ha tenido que improvisar el rescate del personal de los países […]

U.S. forces helping evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule were on alert for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bombing outside Kabul airport killed at least 92 people, including 13 U.S. service members. The White House said the next few days of an ongoing U.S. evacuation operation that the Pentagon said has taken about 111,000 people […]

Two days before he was shot dead by the Taliban, Abu Omar Khorasani, a onetime leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan, sat slumped in a dingy Afghan prison interview room, waiting for his soon-to-be executioners. Mr. Khorasani saw the Taliban’s advance as a harbinger for change. For years both organizations had sworn to rid Afghanistan of nonbelievers. “They will let […]

The U.S. and its allies waged war for 20 years to try to defeat terrorists in Afghanistan. A double-suicide bombing demonstrated that they remain a threat. The nightmare that kept counterterrorism experts awake even before the Taliban returned to power is that Afghanistan would become fertile ground for terrorist groups, most notably Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Two explosions […]

For months, terrorism analysts warned that Islamic State-linked militants in Afghanistan would try to turn the Biden administration’s exit into a bloody spectacle. On Thursday in Kabul, those predictions were realized. ISIS-Khorasan, the Islamic State’s Afghanistan and Pakistan arm, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans in […]

After taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have pledged to be a responsible member of the international community that doesn’t pose a threat to any country’s security. However, the Islamist movement’s victory in Afghanistan has elevated its most radical and violent branch, the Haqqani network. Having perpetrated some of the deadliest attacks of the 20-year war, the network—unlike the broader […]

The number of U.S. service members killed in a series of attacks outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday is now 13, with another 18 wounded, according to a spokesman for U.S. Central Command. The casualty toll increased after the head of CENTCOM held a Pentagon briefing Thursday afternoon, said Navy Capt. Bill Urban. During that event, […]

Sources close to the Taliban leadership told the American publication Foreign Policy that the group will form a 12-member council to run the country. According to the report, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s political deputy; Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, the son of Mullah Mohammad Omar; and Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, a senior member of Haqqani network will be included in the council. […]