US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday at a press conference in Brussels pledged to “rebuild and revitalize” the NATO military alliance and to share American plans on any possible withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Taliban ruled for five years in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, establishing an Islamic emirate system. What is an Islamic emirate and what transpired during the Taliban’s five-year emirate in Afghanistan?
The Taliban’s Islamic emirate came to power in 1996 while the country was embroiled in a civil war that followed the fall of the Soviet-backed president, Dr. Najibullah, in the early 1990s. The Taliban’s emirate was originally established in Kandahar, under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s founding leader. After their establishment in Kandahar, the group rapidly captured wider territories in Afghanistan and soon established their emirate in Kabul, which held power for five years until being toppled by the US and its Afghan allies.
Now that we are fewer than 50 days away from the start of the Biden administration, it is worth considering how U.S. counterterrorism policy priorities will shift. We should anticipate the Biden foreign policy team — led by Secretary of State-designee Antony Blinken, U.S. Ambassador-designee to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield and incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan — will reinvigorate U.S. multilateral counterterrorism efforts at the United Nations and elsewhere.
From drug revenue to extortion to charitable donations, the Taliban has plenty of avenues to fill their coffers.
The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has died of natural causes in Afghanistan, according Afghanistan and Pakistan media on Friday.
Taiwan has two defense procurement deals with the United States in the pipeline for 2021, worth approximately US$8 billion, Vice Defense Minister Chang Che-ping (張哲平) said Monday during a legislative hearing.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that his country is under pressure from sisterly countries to recognise the State of Israel.
In statements made on Friday, Khan announced: “We have been under pressure from friendly countries to recognise Israel, however, we will not do so without a fair settlement to the Palestinians.”
Last week, the New York Times reported that in August of this year, Israeli agents killed al-Qaeda’s number two, Abu Mohammed al-Masri, in Tehran.
Credible rumors recently circulated that al-Qaeda’s current leader Ayman al-Zawahiri died of natural causes, although this remains unconfirmed.
Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China seeks to play a larger role in the Black Sea region. China has been wooing littoral states in hopes of securing new markets for its goods and investing in infrastructure projects.