The Past In April 2017, Ehsanullah Ehsan, a senior spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] who subsequently joined its breakaway faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar [JuA] supposedly, ‘surrendered’ to Pakistan army. It was a great moment for Rawalpindi and the then Director General [DG] of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor proudly announced how “The state is […]

The Financial Times reported last week that numerous Afghan opposition leaders such as the famous Panjshir Valley commander Ahmad Massoud have fled to neighbouring Tajikistan and that they hope to use this safe haven as a base to fight the Taliban. But experts caution that the prospects are poor for any such attempt to continue the anti-Taliban resistance. According to […]

The most worrying concerns, though, about the Taliban’s ability to rein in the activities of Islamist terror groups stem from the composition of the new Afghan government which, far from reflecting the Taliban’s claim that it is pursuing a “moderate” agenda, is packed with hardliners and includes no women, minorities or opposition members. In particular, the appointment of Sirajuddin Haqqani, […]

The Taliban have attacked a sanctuary of the Islamic State terrorist group in central Parwan province. Several IS fighters were killed and detained in Friday’s raid in Charikar, the provincial capital, said Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi. Speaking to the Associated Press, Karimi confirmed the raid. However, he did not go into details of the attack. Nearly 170 Afghans and 13 […]

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has announced a three-week ceasefire, starting from October 2I. The outlawed militant out made the announcement hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was in talks with TTP. A TTP faction confirmed reconciliation talks with the government were underway. A tribal leader from North Waziristan also verified the negotiations. The Pakistani Taliban are said […]

Former FBI agent Ali Soufan has investigated numerous terrorism cases, inside and outside the United States, including the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 attack on the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole. His role in shedding light on the 9/11 attacks also raised his profile. It is believed that he came very close to preventing the terrorist […]

The one clear advantage of the Taliban sweeping into power last month essentially unopposed was they seemed to spare Afghanistan more unnecessary bloodshed. But just as the Taliban ceased their own fighting, another brutal jihadi group began to unleash mayhem across the country. The Islamic State-Khorasan, the Islamic State’s Afghan offshoot, has launched at least a dozen terrorist attacks since […]

Government shutdown? No. Votes in the House? Not until at least 9 p.m. tonight. And on the Senate side, as Marianne LeVine wrote, “Democrats are desperately trying to make lemonade out of the bag of lemons Joe Manchin handed them today. Senate Democrats spun away Manchin’s utter rejection of their $3.5 trillion spending dreams and embrace of a $1.5 trillion […]

Now that the United States has withdrawn its last remaining troops from Afghanistan, many expect the result will draw in regional powers, each seeking to cultivate proxy forces to work through. Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and China all have their own designs for the future of Afghanistan, and each have specific economic, political and security priorities While many of these countries […]

Russia urged Tajikistan and Afghanistan to resolve any dispute in a mutually acceptable manner, saying it had heard reports they were sending troops to their common border, TASS quoted the foreign ministry in Moscow as saying on Thursday (September 30), Reuters reported. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has refused to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -appointed cabinet in Kabul and […]