On July 8, 2022, Afghan media outlets reported on an official visit of the Taliban interim government’s acting Defense Minister, Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, to Qatar, where he met with several top Qatari officials to discuss defense and security bilateral cooperation.

There have already been many military maneuvers, political pivots and plot twists since the U.S. inked a peace deal with the Taliban late last month. But the one development that could finally bring a measure of clarity to Afghanistan in the long term is the International Criminal Court’s decision on March 5 to approve opening a full investigation into allegations […]

Last week, a group of Afghan women appealed to the United Nations, imploring it not to recognize the Taliban’s proposed ambassador to the global body as the representative of their country. “The UN needs to give that seat to somebody who respects the rights of everyone in Afghanistan,” Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan politician and peace negotiator, told reporters. The […]

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), and the United Arab Emirates are poised to strike a deal for the Gulf nation to run Kabul airport and several others in Afghanistan that could be announced within weeks, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, Reuters reported. According to the report the IEA, whose government remains an international pariah without formal recognition, […]

In international relations, there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only “permanent interests.” Every country changes its policy time to time according to its own interest with other countries. No country can deny the importance of Afghanistan for the region. Afghanistan is termed the ‘heart of Asia’, connecting different regions, especially Central Asia, via Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, […]

The United States says no foreign government is contemplating legitimacy for Taliban rule in Afghanistan, even as the insurgent-turned-Islamist group next month will mark the first year of its return to power in Kabul. “I think there’s actually a global consensus to include Moscow and Beijing and Iran, that it’s too early to look at recognition,” Donald Lu, U.S. assistant […]

Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada said Wednesday that Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks against other countries, and he asked the international community to not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. The Taliban say they are adhering to an agreement they signed with the United States in 2020 — before retaking power — in which they promised […]

Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Wednesday on the phone and discussed the need for continuous coordination with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to deal with the ongoing humanitarian crisis. “Blinken and Zardari discussed coordination to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, regional stability, commercial and people-to-people ties, and the devastating […]

US President Joe Biden has notified Congress of his intent to rescind the designation of Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, according to a statement published by the press service of the White House on Wednesday. “In accordance with section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2321k), I am providing notice of my intent […]

In April, the Taliban announced a blanket ban on drug production and use in Afghanistan. There are a number of potential reasons for the move, which would cause considerable financial pain to many of the group’s core constituencies, as well as to the Taliban itself. But the timing of the announcement suggests that the ban will not go into effect […]