Latest Articles about Afghanistan
The Disconnection of Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaeda from the Afghan Jihad Experience
In legitimizing their acts of terror, al-Qaeda and Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiah (JI) frequently draw inspiration from the anti-Soviet Afghan jihad experience of the 1980s. To what extent, however, does the Afghan event justify their violent operations? On July 17, 2009 the twin Jakarta bombings of... MORE
Taliban Issue Interview with the Jihad Leader of Sar-i-Pul Province
Every month, the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan releases al-Somod Islamic e-magazine, a main Taliban propaganda publication. The e-magazine contains religious, political and military articles on the Taliban’s activities. Often, the e-magazine interviews one of the Taliban’s jihad leaders. The forty-second issue of al-Somod carried... MORE
Tashkent Prioritizes its Strategic Role in Afghanistan’s Future
Uzbekistan’s state railroad company Ozbekiston Temir Yollari has won the Afghan government’s tender to build rail infrastructure linking the northern Afghan border town of Hairatan with Mazar-e Sharif, supported by a credit line extended by the Asian Development Bank. In late November, the Uzbek government... MORE
Jihadis Debate Growing Rift Between al-Qaeda and the Taliban
Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s statement on the occasion of the end of Ramadan festivities, published in al-Somod Islamic e-magazine, was seen by many Salafi-Jihadi forum participants as a retreat from true Salafi-Jihadi practices and a sign of unacceptable moderation and concession to the United States... MORE
More Reboot or a Real Strategic Overload?
On December 1, after lengthy consultations with his military and political advisors, President Barrack Obama announced an increase of 30,000 US troops for Afghanistan and sent his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to Brussels to help secure an additional 10,000 troops from other NATO members.... MORE
Taliban Expand Insurgency to Northern Afghanistan
Northern Afghanistan, a secure and stable area until last spring, is now an insecure and fearful place. Although Taliban and al-Qaeda activities have been limited mostly to southern Afghanistan over the past eight years, the Taliban were able to expand their terrorist activities to central... MORE
French Operation in Afghanistan Aims to Open New Coalition Supply Route
Not far from the site of a disastrous encounter with Afghan insurgents last year, French forces have now mounted an offensive to clear the strategic Tagab valley of Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami fighters. An important mission lies behind “Operation Avalon” – the construction of a new... MORE
Moscow Offers Helicopter Cooperation to ISAF
Moscow plans to sell helicopters on a commercial basis to NATO in support of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan. Sources within the Russian aviation industry indicated that the Alliance is interested in procuring civil transport helicopters to enhance prompt and safe troop... MORE
Is Iran Supporting the Insurgency in Afghanistan?
Violence and instability in Afghanistan continue to rage in the form of an organic insurgency shaped by local identities, networks, and interests. Operating under the nebulous rubric of the Taliban, the insurgents in Afghanistan have evolved in sophistication, lethality, and geographic scope in recent years. ... MORE
Karzai Claims Mystery Helicopters Ferrying Taliban to North Afghanistan
While the Western press has been occupied recently with accounts of fraudulent elections in Afghanistan and the alleged role of President Hamid Karzai’s brother as a paid CIA agent, a stranger but perhaps more instructive story was playing out in Afghanistan that reveals the rather... MORE