Former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said former president Ashraf Ghani’s “intransigence,” the Afghan elite’s “selfishness” and Afghan soldiers’ lack of will to fight was to blame for the rapid takeover of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in August. On Ghani’s refusal to change his views, or agree to the formation of a new interim government, Khalilzad […]

Unidentified gunmen attacked a police patrol overnight in northwest Pakistan, killing four before fleeing the scene, a police official said Wednesday. No group claimed responsibility for the attack in Lakki Marwat, a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Police official Umar Khan said a search operation for the culprits was still underway. Khan provided no further details and […]

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, foreign aid has frequently been framed as a possible lever the international community can use to push them to moderate their rule. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres argued after the takeover that “humanitarian assistance is an entry point for effective engagement with the Taliban.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized […]

In some provinces, teenage girls have been allowed to return to secondary schools, though some teachers and parents still have doubts about what this means about Taliban rule. When Narges and her younger sisters were finally allowed to return to school last month, they braced for the new world outside their family’s gate. Following their mother’s lead, each layered on […]

A catalog of “waste, fraud and abuse” reports made against the United States’ reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan have been “temporarily” removed from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) website. In an expose by CNN, a US State Department spokesperson told CNN they had asked SIGAR to “temporarily” remove the reports, owing “to safety and security concerns regarding our […]

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials are eager to have dialogue with the rest of the world, and the international community should help Afghanistan with its development, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday. In an address delivered by video link to a conference in Iran on Afghanistan, Wang said Beijing was ready to host further talks between […]

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, acting defense minister, on Wednesday said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is facing serious challenges which need to be addressed. Addressing an event at the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan 400 bed Military hospital in Kabul, Mullah Yaqoob said Afghans have suffered for 40 years. “These serious problems have been ongoing for many years. There […]

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Wednesday evening after the meeting on Afghanistan that humanitarian and economic support should be provided to Afghanistan so that insurgent groups do not use the current crisis to recruit soldiers. Addressing a press conference after the foreign minister’s meeting on Afghanistan in Tehran, Abdollahian said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is […]

European leaders concerned with Afghanistan’s security situation may see Tajikistan as a useful partner to limit refugee flows to Europe. Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, has had a busy schedule over the past few months, since he took it upon himself to be an advocate for the non-recognition of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. During the first half of October, Rahmon made […]

The banned far-right party has considerable support in politically significant Punjab. For the past few years, autumn in Pakistan has been synonymous with protests challenging the writ of the Pakistani state. This year isn’t any different – except that it took just a weekend of protests to coax the Imran Khan government to negotiate a deal with the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik […]