Taliban | Al Majalla

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier stands guard at Bagram Air Base, after all US and NATO troops left, some 70 Km north of Kabul on July 2, 2021. (TNS)

The US in Afghanistan: It Was Always Going to End This Way

The security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, prompting many to second-guess President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops by Sept. 11. This is an understandable emotional reaction…

Elizabeth Shackelford 04, Jul 2021

Afghan former interpreters for the US and NATO forces gather during a demonstration in downtown Kabul on April 30, 2021, on the eve of the beginning of Washington's formal troop withdrawal -- although forces have been drawn down for months. (Getty)

Betrayed: Is The World Abandoning Helpful Afghans?

On June 8, gunmen shot dead 10 Afghans working for the international demining organization the Halo Trust in an attack on their camp in the north of the country. While Halo did not officially blame…

Meera Ravi 18, Jun 2021

Afghan women, youths, activists and elders gather at a rally to support peace talks and the republic government in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 29, 2021. According to the reports, Turkey will host the Afghanistan peace-talks summit in the upcoming days. (Getty)

U.S. Defending or Abandoning Afghan Women Is a False Choice

When U.S. policymakers debate the future of Afghan women, they often frame a binary choice. The United States can either abandon them—as collateral damage of a foolhardy Western experiment imposed on…

Rina Amiri 21, May 2021

Head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission Shaharzad Akbar gestures during a press conference in Kabul on September 29, 2019. (Getty)

Afghan Civil Society Needs Voice in Peace Process

Since the beginning of the intra-Afghan peace negotiations, at least 14 journalists and human rights defenders have been killed in targeted attacks. Last week, Shaharzad Akbar, the head of…

Samina Ansari 16, Apr 2021

Armed Pakistani Taliban gather at a hideout in the semi-autonomous tribal district of Orakzai on April 22, 2009.(Getty)

The Pakistani Taliban is Back

Six years after their defeat, the once-dreaded Pakistani Taliban have staged a gradual comeback in their former territories in Waziristan, the rugged tribal region bordering Afghanistan, by carrying…

Daud Khattak 19, Mar 2021

(L to R) The Taliban's former minister of agriculture Abdul Latif Mansoor, former envoy to Saudi Arabia Shahabuddin Delawar, former culture and information minister Amir Khan Mutaqi, former deputy education minister Abdul Salam Hanafi, and Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai attend the Intra Afghan Dialogue talks in the Qatari capital Doha on July 7, 2019. (Getty)

A Deal With the Taliban Is Only the First Step Toward Peace

After months of closed-door negotiations inDoha, Qatar,the United Statesappears close to finalizing a deal with theTalibanthat would end Washington’s 18-year war inAfghanistan. The agreement would…

John Walsh 13, Sep 2019

An Afghan farmers harvests opium sap from a poppy field in Zari District in Kandahar province on April 9, 2018. (Getty)

Helmand’s Flower That Threatens Us All

A peace deal inAfghanistanmay be on the horizon. The latest round of high-level negotiations betweenthe United Statesand theTalibanended last week inDohawithout a formal agreement, but with cautious…

Matthew S. Reid and Cybele C. Greenberg 31, Mar 2019

Negotiations Are the Best Way to End the War in Afghanistan

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Barnett R. Rubin 15, Mar 2019

Is the Taliban Making a Pledge It Cannot Keep?

InDohain late January,the United Statesand the Afghan Taliban agreed in principle to the contours of a peace deal. Under its terms, theTalibanwould guarantee that Afghan territory would never be…

Tricia Bacon 01, Mar 2019

The Taliban’s Battle Plan

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Michael Semple 30, Nov 2018

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