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 […]

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 […]

Air operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, continued through the night, getting between 700 and 800 people out of the country, said Army Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for regional operations. Taylor spoke alongside DOD Press Secretary John F. Kirby at the Pentagon. The men said the airport is under U.S. […]

Once the United States announced its decision to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, it was only a matter of time before the country would fall to the Taliban. But it took much less time than expected with the Taliban declaring victory on Sunday after the Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani fled and the government, which was propped up by the US-led […]

Kaboul est tombée et il n’aura fallu que quelques semaines aux talibans pour balayer l’armée afghane financée et formée par les États-Unis durant vingt ans. Pour rappel, le régime communiste avait survécu trois années au retrait de l’Armée rouge. Mais le désastre afghan, au-delà d’une défaite ponctuelle, signe le fiasco de « la guerre contre le terrorisme ». Nous étions […]

Nie będziemy się mścić, darujemy przeciwnikom, zaprosimy kobiety do współrządzenia. To deklarowali talibowie trzy dni po zdobyciu Kabulu. Trwa okres przejściowy. Wspierany wcześniej przez Amerykę prezydent Aszraf Ghani uciekł za granicę. A zwycięzcy nie ogłosili jeszcze powstania nowego państwa. Niewiele wiadomo, jaka będzie forma zarządzania. Trochę o planach powiedział Enamullah Samangani, z szerokiego kierownictwa ruchu talibów. To z jego ust […]

Al Jazeera visualises Afghanistan – a mostly mountainous country of 38 million people – which has suffered decades of war. Over the past few days, the Taliban has taken 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals. The armed group now controls an estimated 65 percent of the country’s territory, as the US-led foreign forces are about to complete the pullout from […]

The billions spent by the US and NATO on the Afghan military could not fix major internal flaws. On August 15, the Taliban captured the Afghan capital Kabul and declared the war in Afghanistan over. The lightning speed with which the group made major territorial gains as the Afghan National Defence Security Forces (ANDSF) retreated without putting up a fight […]

Six important figures lead the Taliban movement, which has been fighting the Western-backed government since 2001. The Taliban has been fighting the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul since it was removed from power in 2001. It originally drew members from so-called “mujahideen” fighters who, with support from the United States, repelled Soviet forces in the 1980s. The group emerged in […]