The link between the Afghan Taliban and proscribed militant outfits Al-Qaeda and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains “strong and symbiotic”, a report published by the United Nations (UN) said. The fourteenth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council’s 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee — released on Friday — noted that a “range of terrorist groups […]

Over 100 Afghans serving prison sentences in Iran were handed over to the Taliban on Sunday. “As a result of the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… 101 Afghan prisoners were transferred again in Nimruz in connection with the agreement reached with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, Chargé d’affaires […]

When June 16, 202310:00 am – 11:00 am Where Zoom Webinar Registration For More Information Programs Departmentevents@mei.edu202-785-1141 ext. 202 Iran has had complicated relations with the Taliban since the group emerged in the 1990s. But recent border clashes and deepening tensions over shared water resources represent a serious escalation — and a new set of challenges — for both Tehran […]

It was Afghanistan’s irresistible desire for independence from foreign occupation that bled and weakened the Soviet Union substantially during its nine-year occupation and led to its subsequent disintegration. Thus, Ukraine emerged as an independent sovereign state from Afghanistan’s unremitting desire for independence. Now that Ukraine is fighting for its own independence, it is worthwhile to make a comparison between the […]

Recent DevelopmentsUnconfirmed reports arguing that the Afghan Taliban has neutralised Sanaullah Ghafari alias Shahab al-Muhajir, the Emir of Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) during a raid in Kunar (bordering Pakistan), have trickled in gradually this month. However, besides speculative rhetoric, there is little to go on, considering there is a lack of eulogising by pro-ISIS media or celebratory announcements […]

The first consignment carrying Russian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) reached Pakistan on Tuesday, a day after the South Asian country received the first shipment of Russian crude oil, Pakistan media reported. A convoy of ten trucks carrying the Russian gas entered Pakistan via Torkham border, media reports stated. The first consignment went via rail to Uzbekistan and then into Afghanistan […]

Deputy prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi met with Carl Skau, the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the UN’s World Food Program in Kabul on Monday where the two discussed the current situation in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate said. According to the deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, Hanafi said that sanctions are not solutions and that […]

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Afghan Evac Coalition to facilitate evacuation of Afghans who worked with the Americans during their military presence in Afghanistan. Blinken, speaking at the signing ceremony, said that the United States is determined to relocate and resettle its Afghan partners. “When President Biden brought an […]

Out of the blue on June 1 the news broke that secret talks had taken place in mid-May between the head of the Taliban and the prime minister of Qatar. A cloak of secrecy had been cast over this first known meeting of Haibatullah Akhunzada, leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, with any foreign statesman. News of the talks was […]

Sweden’s government has appointed Johan Ndisi as its Special Representative for Afghanistan and the new head of the Swedish embassy for the country, a statement said on Saturday. Ndisi will assume his position in August, Sweden’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement, adding that the embassy’s operations had temporarily been relocated to Stockholm. “The government has appointed Johan […]