Depending on how one defines “control” the Afghan Taliban are the effective government in anywhere between around 20 and 60% of all Afghan territory, operating in a patch work of regions that is distributed between the official government, the Taliban and Daesh terrorists. What is less important than the disputed numbers is the clear fact…
A ceasefire declared between the Afghan government and Taliban on the eve of the Islamic celebration of Eid has been devastated by an attack on a meeting between Afghan Security Forces and Taliban representatives in Nangarhar province. Already over 20 have died in the terrorist attack. This represents a further attempt by a terrorist force- almost…
Last night (May 27), an Israel Defense Force command unit, newly stationed at the formerly closed US military facility and air base at Farah City in Farah Province, Western Afghanistan, came under Taliban attack. Attacks on the Israeli group had been going on for days. Israel forces were hit with rocket and mortar attacks, losing…
One of the top roller-coaster sagas in what, some years ago, I christened Pipelineistan, has yielded a definitive twist. The US$8 billion,1,814-kilometer Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) was officially inaugurated on Friday, in full pomp, and with proceedings broadcast live on Afghan TV, on the Turkmen-Afghan border close to Herat. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani hosted Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan…
The Taliban in Afghanistan have published an attempt to reason with “the American people, officials of independent non-governmental organizations and the peace loving Congressmen.” This “Letter of the Islamic Emirate to the American People” attempts to open a dialogue with American citizens. I happen to be an American citizen. You realize that your political leadership…
When the American people went to the polls in November 2016, they could be forgiven for thinking they had elected a president who might just bring the troops home from Afghanistan. After nearly seventeen years of grinding war in that poor, desolate and ultimately insignificant country, it seemed that Americans had finally had enough. However,…
