South East Asia

As the barack obama administration considers modifying the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, it is useful to understand the social, religious and historical forces that influence Pashtun society. Pashtuns form the single largest community in Afghanistan, consisting of approximately 38% of the population.[1] Pakistan also hosts a significant Pashtun population, primarily in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), where they make up 78% of the population, and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where they make up 99% of the population.[2] Overall, 15% of Pakistanis are Pashtun.[3]

Supravegherea sporită la frontierele extracomunitare ale Ungariei și Croației a deviat către România ruta pe care mii de migranți și refugiați afgani încearcă să ajungă în centrul UE, scrie publicația spaniolă El Confidencial.

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally.

Despite years of military targeting by the U.S.-led coalition, the group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to press more assaults as the United States and other NATO partners withdraw from Afghanistan, and as the Taliban return to power.

When the tears dry, it is worth considering why there is so much upset about the fall of Kabul (or reconquest) by the Taliban and the messy withdrawal of US-led forces. A large shield is employed: women, rights of the subject, education. Remove the shield, and we are left with a simple equation of power gone wrong in the name of paternalistic warmongering.

When the tears dry, it is worth considering why there is so much upset about the fall of Kabul (or reconquest) by the Taliban and the messy withdrawal of US-led forces. A large shield is employed: women, rights of the subject, education. Remove the shield, and we are left with a simple equation of power gone wrong in the name of paternalistic warmongering.

On February 29, 2020, the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal following months of tense, highly publicized bilateral peace talks. The finalized agreement had four key points, firstly a staggered withdrawal of foreign troops over fourteen months. Secondly assurances by the Taliban that Afghanistan will not be used as a base to launch terror attacks against the US nor provide haven to other extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and the IS. Thirdly, the beginning of an Intra-Afghan Dialogue and lastly a cessation of violence. Surprisingly, since the very beginnings the negotiations had barred the Afghan government and nowhere near had it seemed happening that Taliban are going for peace with the Afghan government. Additionally, the Taliban’s long-standing refusal to recognize Kabul as the legitimate government of Afghanistan also did not bode well for successful implementation of a substantively meaningful Intra-Afghan Dialogue.

The airport blasts could re-open the military option if the Taliban do not crackdown on the ISIS

The ISIS-engineered blasts near the Kabul airport on Thursday, in which 13 US soldiers were killed along with dozens of Afghan civilians, have put the US at the crossroads. The blasts have put a question mark on US military withdrawal by August 31. They could also re-open the military option if the Taliban is unable or unwilling to crackdown on the ISIS as a priority. At any rate, peace in not in the offing in Afghanistan.