Author: M Barbu

Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s rise to power there, religious scholar Dr. Attia ‘Adlan, a former Egyptian MP and current member of the International Union Of Muslims Scholars (IUMS), which is supported by Qatar and Turkey, published an article on the IUMS website in which he defended the Taliban against its detractors. Forcefully rejecting the fears expressed by many in the Muslim world regarding the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan, ‘Adlan claimed its members are “admirable people,” graduates of excellent shari’a schools who adhere to the tradition and avoid sin, and who are renowned for their jihad and steadfastness.

Recent attacks on Kabul’s international airport by the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate raise multiple questions as well as the spectre of paradigm shifts in the drivers and expanding geography of political violence.

The attacks have called into question the Taliban’s ability to maintain security and keep a lid on the activities of multiple militant groups in Afghanistan. Long at war with the Islamic State (IS), the Taliban have promised to ensure that neither IS nor groups with which it maintains good relations will be allowed to use the Central Asian state for cross border attacks in the region.

The Afghan Taliban 2.0 Regime which zoomed into power in Kabul on August 15 2021 by American default of what I have earlier termed as a geopolitical suicide is perceptionaly a “China-Pakistan-Russia Franchise” facilitated into power in Kabul by this Trilateral and that Afghan Taliban captured power not on the strengths of astounding military victories over US Military Forces or supported by an upsurge of popular Afghan masses support.

After 20 years, the Taliban regained control of Kabul on August 15 and became Afghanistan’s top authority with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the capture of Kabul, the Taliban appear to be ostensibly adhering to international norms and seeking good relations with their neighbors. Afghanistan’s neighbors, such as China, India, Iran, Russia, and the Gulf states, are pursuing ties with the Taliban in their own self-interest. But of all Afghanistan’s neighbors, Qatar is the main winner following recent developments.

It is becoming increasingly obvious what kind of superpower China might be. Even as the international community watches the unfolding events in Afghanistan with concern, China has moved quickly to further its interests in the region. For Beijing, it is business as usual.

The return of the Taliban in an Afghanistan abandoned by both its fleeing President and the US forces infuses a perilous complexity into India’s strategic environment. The US’s chastened retreat, rather than withdrawal, from this embattled land-locked country of over 35 million puts the clock back to the time when the Taliban reigned between 1996 and 2001.

L’accueil de réfugiés afghans (notamment par la Belgique) devrait être une priorité. Mais les considérations humaines et humanitaires sont encore trop souvent reléguées au second plan.

Depuis la prise de Kaboul par les Talibans le 15 août, l’Afghanistan fait la Une des médias. Et quelle Une ! C’est d’abord une crainte pour nos propres intérêts, plutôt qu’une quelconque solidarité avec une population afghane en détresse, qui est souvent évoquée. On a tous vu cette image de l’aéroport de Kaboul pris d’assaut par des Afghans désespérés, tentant de prendre leur envol avec un avion de l’US Air force. Comment pouvons-nous y rester insensibles ? Il n’y aura donc toujours que dans le dictionnaire que nous retrouverons l’hospitalité avant l’hostilité ?