The Indian government has been faced with a strange dilemma since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. On Aug. 31, within hours of US forces departing the war-torn nation, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that its envoy to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, had met with the head of the Taliban’s political office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai. This triggered […]

Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy agency, arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks with the Taliban regarding matters related to the safe evacuation of foreign nationals, border management and security in the region, sources said. Geo News reported that Hameed will also meet with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan […]

A meeting of Special Representatives of China, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan was hosted by Pakistan on Sunday, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq said. In a tweet, Sadiq tweeted on Sunday that he chaired the virtual meeting and the latest situation in Afghanistan was discussed. The representatives of these countries unanimously stressed that peace in Afghanistan is […]

Kosovo has agreed to take in Afghanistan evacuees who fail to clear initial rounds of screening and host them for up to a year, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity Saturday. The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said later in a statement that the arrangement did not mean Kosovo was taking evacuees who had been deemed ineligible for admission […]

The Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan by August 31 has created instability in the country has resulted in instability in the country. Following this decision, the Taliban in the country became active and took full control of 210 provinces and the capital. A temporary committee headed by former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah was then set up […]

The Taliban has just won a 20-year war against America and its allies and sent them packing. The triumph is so complete that the US no longer represents any sort of threat to the Taliban’s long-held aim to rule the country according to its own interpretation of Sharia law. But the taste of victory is far from sweet, because the […]

A convoy of US military vehicles has been filmed being directed toward Tehran after the Taliban handed it over to Iranian authorities. “The loss of these vehicles is another embarrassment for the US, and could be damaging in the future if these vehicles are used to either extract valuable technical information or to impersonate US forces in Iraq,” Jonathon Kitson, […]

As the situation in Afghanistan unravels and uncertainties characterise the Asian geo-political landscape, terms such as “bad” and “good” Taliban of yesteryears have become redundant. In the recent turn of events, the Taliban has revealed itself as a hybrid group, blending shades of old and new. The claim that they represent the “Afghan nation” is reflective of a mimetic practice […]

The battle for northeastern Panjsher province has hotted up, with the Taliban claiming they have captured the strategic valley. However, the National Resistance Front spurned reports about the fall of Panjsher and former vice-president Amrullah Saleh denied fleeing the country. Late on Friday, Saleh uploaded a video, suggesting that he was still in Panjsher He vowed to continue with resistance […]

Back in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban are reiterating anti-terrorism pledges made 25 years ago, five years before 9/11. But with Taliban forces patrolling Kabul, a suicide bomber on Thursday inflicted the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a decade. At a minimum, the attack underscores how the Taliban have failed to stop an Islamic State faction operating […]