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 […]

Four Daesh militants were killed and a fifth was arrested in an operation in Kabul on Wednesday. According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), forces had conducted a raid on an “important nest of the enemy” in Karte-e-Sakhi area in PD3. The operation was launched at about 11.30am but a shootout between IEA and […]

On July 28, 2022, Security Forces (SFs) killed two Hafiz Gul Bahadur (HGB) militants in the Manzer Khel area of the North Waziristan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction is a breakaway of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. On July 23, 2022, three HGB militants were killed in the North Waziristan District.

The Islamic Republic and the Taliban have formed a committee to address violence on the border. Border clashes are continuing on Iran’s border with Afghanistan, prompting the two countries to formally meet on the issue. Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Seyyed Majid Mir-Ahmadi said yesterday that border guards for the Taliban government in Afghanistan shot at Iranian border guards late last […]