A former security force member, Rahmani, who had interrogated and investigated Anas Haqqani while he was in a Kabul prison returned to Afghanistan recently and met up for a chat. Haqqani, who was in prison in Kabul for five years before being released in November 2019, said Rahmani had been his interrogator while in prison. “Part of the interrogation and […]

China will resume issuing visas to Afghans from August 1 and allow 98 percent of Afghan imports to enter tax free, it was reported on Friday. Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the measures when he met Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Uzbekistan on Thursday, Reuters reported citing a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. Wang also told […]

Afghanistan’s economy has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban’s return to power, owing largely to a reduction in international aid flows. Many well-educated Afghans have left the country, leaving Taliban-controlled Afghanistan short on entrepreneurs, skilled workers, and domestic capital resources. Taliban success in curbing official corruption and the end of the civil war partly mitigates the economic difficulties; yet half the […]

One year after their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have struggled to govern the country, maintained a close relationship with al-Qaeda, and fostered an atmosphere of violence, insecurity, and economic stagnation. The situation for women and girls in Afghanistan has drastically deteriorated since the Taliban consolidated power in August 2021, with access to education and employment being greatly curtailed. The […]

One year after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, fighting has decreased considerably. Yet serious security problems remain, not least the foreign militants still in the country. External actors should press the new authorities to fulfil their commitments and avoid any steps that could reignite large-scale violence. What’s new? The world’s deadliest war subsided into an uneasy calm after the Taliban […]

On August 8, 2022, four soldiers were killed in a suicide blast targeting a military convoy in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Two days later, on August 10, Ittehad Musallah Islami Mujahideen (IMAM)’s spokesperson Abu Basheer Waziristani claimed responsibility for the attack. On August 3, 2022, two policemen were killed and another two […]

Because they are the broken heart of this story. “I don’t want to be buried in Afghanistan.” My grandfather’s piercing blue eyes glazed over, belying the certainty in his voice. His request before his death in 2011 may have sounded unusual coming from a proud Kandahari man, a former Afghan diplomat turned prolific Pashtun scholar. But to me and my […]

The foreign ministers of Qatar and the United States met Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia and discussed the situation in Afghanistan. In this meeting, Doha-Washington bilateral cooperation, developments in Afghanistan, the latest developments related to the Iran nuclear agreement negotiations, as well as some common […]

At least eight people were killed when an explosion went off in Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, police said. Eighteen others were wounded in the blast which happened in Sar-e-Karez area, PD 6, west of Kabul, city’s police spokesman Khalid Zadran said. He said that the explosives were attached to a handcart. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) leaders on Thursday issued a statement on the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and said they had no information about his “arrival and stay” in Kabul. US President Joe Biden said Monday they killed al-Zawahiri with a missile fired from a drone while he stood on a balcony at his Kabul hideout in the […]