The Taliban’s record in recent weeks on making good on promises to respect human and women’s rights as well as uphold freedom of the press is mixed at best. Afghanistan’s neighbours and near-neighbours are not holding their breath even if some are willing to give the Central Asian country’s new rulers the benefit of the doubt. A litmus test of […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Chief of Army Staff Qari Fasihudin Fitrat said Wednesday a strong and orderly army would soon be established to independently defend Afghan territory. Fitrat also stated that the Islamic Emirate would suppress anyone who tried to defend gains made in the past 20 years and American democracy. He warned that “such people are violating public order […]

Deborah Lyons, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, has met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister, to discuss much needed humanitarian relief for Afghanistan. Suhail Shaheen, an Islamic Emirate spokesman, said in a statement on Twitter on Thursday: “(Haqqani) stressed that UN personnel can conduct their work without any hurdle and deliver vital aid to the Afghan […]

Kunar Governor Mohammad Usman Turabi rejected the claim regarding the distraction of military equipment in the province. He said all heavy weapons and military gears present in the province were in secure place. He said the Taliban had been told that military equipment belonged to the nation and it should not be wasted. Mawlavi Abdullah Haqqani, commander of the infantry […]

Senior officials from China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran reached a consensus on Thursday to step up communication and coordination on the Afghan issue, Reuters reported. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Assistant to Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Rasoul Mousavi reached the consensus at an informal meeting […]

Russia, China, Pakistan and other regional states called on the United States on Friday to engage with the Islamic Emirate and fund aid to Afghanistan, though they also urged the Afghan government to yield power to a more inclusive government. The fate of Afghanistan dominated a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, formed 20 years ago by Russia, China and […]

Following the Taliban’s recent rise to power in Afghanistan, articles in the Arab press, especially the Saudi and Emirati press, claimed that the Taliban shares many similarities with other extremist organizations in the Arab and Muslim world, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Hamas and Hizbullah. The articles claimed that the MB’s ideology, shaped by its ideologue Sayyid Qutb […]

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has reiterated that Germany wants to reinstate their embassy in Kabul. “Of course we want to reopen an embassy in Kabul. We need diplomatic representation on the ground,” Maas told reporters after meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh on Thursday. “It always depends on the safety situation in Kabul but also on the […]

India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval is all poised to meet his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on the situation in Afghanistan today (Wednesday). The political, security, and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan would figure at the meeting in New Delhi, the Asia News International reported. The Taliban takeover and the announcement of the new “Islamic Emirate” government will also come […]

On September 7, 2021, hundreds of Afghans – most of whom were women defying the Taliban jihadis patrolling public life in Afghanistan – turned out in the streets of Kabul chanting anti-Pakistan, anti-Taliban slogans. Some of the slogans raised by the protesters included: “Pakistan, Pakistan, Leave Afghanistan” and “Freedom, Freedom.”[1] The women protesters – chanting “Death to Pakistan,” “Allah-o-Akbar,” “Freedom,” […]