South East Asia

Victory in Syria Requires Learning from Afghanistan

At the end of the day, these seemingly intractable conflicts can’t be won with just military might, or even by diplomacy in Geneva, but only by building governance that has the legitimacy of the people.

The world was stunned in mid-August when Afghan Armed Forces laid down their weapons in what the Washington Post reported as “a breathtaking series of negotiated surrenders” to the Taliban. In addition to feeling abandoned by the United States, these soldiers had reportedly been “badly paid, ill-fed and erratically supplied.” When assessing what went wrong, the focus should be on the lack of legitimacy of the Afghan government with the army and the people of Afghanistan. It was especially telling when reports surfaced of President Ashraf Ghani allegedly fleeing with cars and a helicopter full of cash, reinforcing the culture of corruption. Was this a government worth fighting for?

The Threat of Al Qaeda and ISIS-K in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan

A year and a half before their takeover of Afghanistan in August, the Taliban signed a deal with the U.S. stipulating that they would not allow any individuals or groups to use Afghan soil “to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.”

Today, with the Taliban in control and U.S. troops withdrawn after two decades of war and insurgency — a moment that FRONTLINE correspondent Najibullah Quraishi examined in the October 2021 documentary Taliban Takeover — those concerns remain. On Oct. 26, a top Pentagon official said terrorist groups in Afghanistan could be capable of launching attacks on the West and its allies within six months to two years.

Turkish forces detain 149 Afghan migrants

Turkish security personnel have arrested nearly 150 Afghan migrants on the border with Iran, media reports said on Saturday.

The Afghan citizens were detained on Thursday in the eastern city of Bitlis after the country boosted border security to block entry from Afghanistan via Iran.

With Haqqanis at the Helm, the Taliban Will Grow Even More Extreme

The Haqqani network has long been the most lethal and vicious element of the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s newly appointed minister of interior and acting minister of refugees each have $5 million bounties on their head for their involvement with international terrorism. Sirajuddin Haqqani and his uncle, Khalil, are members of the Haqqani network, an Afghan Sunni Islamist militant organization that is functionally part of the Taliban and which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.

Taliban size up the threat from a tenacious IS-K

As the Taliban shift their focus from insurgency to government, their most formidable rival is the Islamic State’s regional chapter, which has staged a string of bloody attacks in recent weeks.

The latest atrocity claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) killed at least 19 people Tuesday, including a senior Taliban commander at a military hospital in Kabul, with dozens more wounded.

Central Asia Pivotal to Great Power Strategy on Afghanistan

China’s establishment of military bases in Tajikistan reflects a shared concern with Central Asian countries about the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.

Tajikistan is pivotal to China and other actors because it borders areas of Afghanistan where there is a small, but active, armed opposition to the Taliban.

How Taliban Victory Will Reshape Regional Dynamics In Central Asia – Analysis

The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan is transforming the regional landscape and unnerving neighbouring countries. Central Asian countries face migration flows, humanitarian challenges and political uncertainty. The post-American Afghanistan also provides Moscow and Beijing, as well several other regional powers like Tehran and Islamabad, with opportunities to enhance regional engagement as the world moves towards multipolarity.

China and Russia, and regional powers, are eager to increase their influence in Central Asia, though with divergent goals. No single power is capable of taking on the security role the United States played.

Pakistan: The Anti-American “Ally”

In an interview aired in the US in June 2021, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will deny US use of its territory for “over-the-horizon” surveillance of possible terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Now, there are negotiations for the US to use Pakistan’s airspace for military operations in Afghanistan, but is this really an ally on which the United States can count?

Pakistan’s TLP Emerges Stronger From Protests

The Imran Khan government’s secret deal with the banned group will get the latter off the streets but at a price.

The government of Pakistan has signed yet another agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) after a two- week-long protest by the group, which killed scores of policemen and caused massive economic losses.

It has refused to divulge details of the deal done with the proscribed group. One of the reasons for the government not making public the agreement it signed with the TLP is criticism and pressure it could draw internationally.

Many of former Afghan forces, abandoned by US, joining Daesh: WSJ

Many of Afghanistan’s US-trained spies and military personnel have joined the Daesh terrorist group after being abandoned by the United States, a new report has revealed.

Citing Taliban leaders and former Afghan security officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that several members of the former Afghan government’s intelligence and military apparatus joined Daesh, following the hasty withdrawal of the US-led coalition troops from the country in August.