Turkey boosted security measures on its border with Iran to stop illegal crossings, mainly from Afghans fleeing the Taliban that has taken over key cities and provinces. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Saturday (August 14) visited the 295-kilometer long border with Iran where a modular concrete wall is being built. Turkish officials said a 64-kilometer-long section of the wall […]

American troops have flown into the Afghan capital to help evacuate embassy personnel and other civilians in Kabul, a US official said on Saturday as quoted by Reuters. The Pentagon has said two battalions of Marines and one infantry battalion will arrive in Kabul by Sunday evening, involving about 3,000 troops, according to Reuters report. “They have arrived, their arrival […]

Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday and said they were awaiting a “peaceful transfer” of the city after promising not to take it by force, but panicked residents raced to the leave, with workers fleeing government offices and helicopters landing at the U.S. Embassy. In a nationwide offensive that has taken just over a week, […]

President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel. U.S. troops will also help in the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the military during the nearly two-decade war. The […]

President Ashraf Ghani in a pre-recorded message to the nation on Friday said that remobilization of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) is his top priority and that required measures are underway to reach this end, but he vowed to prevent further bloodshed in the country. Ghani thanked the Afghan forces for their bravery in defending the country […]

Afghanistan’s leaders face a challenging task: uniting a fractured and crippled country in the midst of a raging pandemic with economic devastation and societal discord fueling conflict and terrorism. The loss of life in Afghanistan is staggering: 6,000 killed since mid-April due to the unrest. While there does not appear to be a coherent strategy for turning the tide, it […]

The UK government should maintain aid spending in Afghanistan, especially after the troop withdrawal. The decision by the UK government to cut foreign aid will have devastating consequences, particularly in Afghanistan where the security situation is deteriorating. The cuts signal that the UK government has not learned from history, where a lack of commitment to Afghanistan and its neighbours has […]

“A NEGATIVE OUTCOME, a Taliban automatic military takeover, is not a foregone conclusion,” Mark Milley, America’s most senior soldier, intoned last month while reiterating America’s support for the embattled Afghan government. General Milley is right: such a takeover is not quite inevitable, despite the departure of American troops. But it is growing more likely by the day—in large part because […]

Der Westen ist in Afghanistan gescheitert. Ein neuer Militäreinsatz, um die Taliban zu vertreiben, ist unrealistisch. Trotzdem haben die westlichen Truppen noch eine Aufgabe: Sie müssen Friedensverhandlungen erzwingen. Der Westen ist gescheitert, in Afghanistan gescheitert. Das ist die bittere Wahrheit. Und jetzt? Das Scheitern ist seit Langem klar – aber es wird uns jetzt in aller Deutlichkeit vor Augen geführt: […]

The Taliban conquered the second and third largest cities in Afghanistan, Kandahar and Herat, on Friday as part of a major offensive on the heels of the U.S. withdrawal. The assault on Kandahar carried symbolic weight because it is the birthplace of the Taliban, from where founder Mullah Omar began conquering Afghanistan in the 1990s. Taliban militants now control over […]