Afghanistan

Abstract: With the confirmed deaths of Hamza bin Ladin and Abu Muhammad al-Masri, as well as the reported (but as yet unconfirmed) demise of al-Qaida’s second emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the likely next in line to inherit the leadership is an Egyptian who goes by the nom de guerre Saif al-Adl. …

Mediators alone do not guarantee success, but there are few examples of significant peace agreements in their absence. At present, the Afghan peace negotiations (APN) between the Afghan government and the Taliban do not involve any third-party presence beyond hosting and supporting roles. The parties to the conflict and members …

Key Western defense officials appear to be signaling that a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan will not permit for the withdrawal of some 10,000 troops under the terms of a deal signed with the Taliban last February.

The Taliban dismissed the Pentagon’s claim that the Afghan militant group is not in compliance with the agreement it reached with the United States in Qatar last year, warning Washington that American troops will be killed if they refuse to leave the country as required by the deal.

A security source said on Friday that 16 security force members were killed and two more were wounded in a Taliban attack on their outpost in Khan Abad district in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday night.

Taliban insurgents have killed at least 21 government troops in new attacks in Afghanistan as U.S.-brokered peace talks between the two warring sides remain stalled. The fighting comes as the United States is reviewing a February 2020 agreement with the Taliban, which required remaining American and allied forces to leave …

Once more, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria’s Idlib is making appearances in public places and visiting camps in a bid to present himself as a popular leader and to have his organization’s name removed from the international terrorist list.

Iran supports an inclusive Afghan government that would include all ethnic groups and sects, Zarif was quoted as saying. Iran has hosted the political leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban during the past week, offering Tehran’s own help as a mediator in peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government that …

Both Iranian and Taliban officials criticized the United States’ role in Afghanistan during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, amid peace talks in Qatar. An Iranian official accused the United States of prolonging the war in Afghanistan during a visit by the Taliban to Iran. A Taliban leader also told the …

Afghanistan may not rank in the top tier of U.S. President Joe Biden’s policy priorities, given the host of pressing crises in the United States. But Afghanistan’s fate hinges in large part on how the Biden team decides to approach the country’s conflict and its tenuous, still-nascent peace process. Biden …