The speed and scope of the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan have prompted introspection in the West over what went wrong, and how, after billions of dollars spent on a 20-year war effort, it could all end so ignominiously. China, though, is looking forward. It is ready to step into the void left by the hasty U.S. retreat to seize a […]

A number of lawmakers on Friday said that it would be challenging to build the same army the country established in the past two decades. They said that the poor management by Ashraf Ghani and his adviser Hamdullah Mohib led to the collapse of the nation’s armed forces. The lawmakers said that the escape of the former government officials from […]

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of HIzb-e-Islami party, on Friday said that formal talks between the Afghan political leaders and the Taliban will start once the Taliban leaders arrive in Kabul. He said the recent meetings were informal meetings. Meanwhile, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, the former vice president of Afghanistan, warned the Taliban against pursuing their past policies. He said that such […]

With Herat now in the hands of the Taliban as the militant group consolidates power over the last outposts of government-held territory, protecting Afghanistan’s heritage has become a grave concern for many. Last month Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, accepted a request by the Afghan government to include the city in a list of world cultural […]

Joe Votel was only a few weeks into his new job as commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the US Army’s elite special operations force, when Al Qaeda hijackers attacked New York. At his base in Fort Benning, in the southern state of Georgia, his secretary came into his office and told him to switch on the TV. “It was […]

The leader of Afghanistan’s only region not to have fallen to the Taliban has said he would be willing to join a Taliban government, but only if the group proved itself to be inclusive and respect the rights of all Afghans. Ahmad Massoud, 32, leads forces in the Panjshir valley and said that war was on the cards if the […]

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday (17 August) called on the Taliban to prevent Afghanistan from lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terrorism, and said the Western defence alliance has agreed to send additional evacuation planes to Kabul. Western powers are scrambling to respond to the fall-out from their decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and the Taliban’s […]

The Taliban has declared a general amnesty for former Afghan government officials, a statement by the Taliban said. “A general amnesty has been declared for all so you should have no doubt about resuming your normal activities,” the statement reads, TASS reported. Taliban members entered Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on August 15, meeting no resistance, and took control of the […]

Twenty years ago, the United States waged the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks. The US declared Afghanistan as the first front in this war with the intention to swiftly crush the Taliban forces for providing safe haven to Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the Al-Qaeda. The GWOT […]

At first glance, the Taliban’s victory over the Afghan government after the US withdrew its troops from the country represents a humiliating defeat for America and its allies. This, at least, seems to be the position taken by analysts and commentators in coverage of this story in most mainstream US media publications. Upon closer review, however, the US’s withdrawal from […]