Taliban

By Abubakar Siddique | – ( RFE/ RL )- For nearly two decades, the Taliban launched an annual deadly spring offensive in a bid to regain the power it lost in 2001. As the snows melted in the Afghan mountains, Taliban fighters hastened their attacks on officials and troops of the pro-Western Afghan republic and […]

Afghanistan

Afghan evacuees lack a clear path for resettlement in the U.S., 7 months after Taliban takeover

The Conversation

By Tazreena Sajjad, American University School of International Service | – Russia’s war against Ukraine has resulted in more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country. The United States said on March 24, 2022, that it would welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. The Ukrainian refugee situation continues to overshadow another refugee crisis. That crisis stems […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban is holding girls’ education hostage in Afghanistan – the question is, why?

The Conversation

By Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam, University of St Andrews | – Afghan children and teenagers have not had much to look forward to since the Taliban took power in August last year. They have endured six months of uncertainty, anxiety and fear as they waited to see what Taliban rule would bring for them. Women could […]

Afghanistan

U.S. Sanctions on Afghanistan Could Be Deadlier Than 20 Years of War

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Mark Weisbrot | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Originally published in Inside Sources. Economic sanctions have, in recent years, become one of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy. There are currently more than 20 countries subjected to various sanctions from the U.S. government. But if more Americans knew how many […]

Afghanistan

Biden Seeks to Seize Afghanistan’s Assets

Human Rights Watch

By John Sifton | Asia Advocacy Director | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – The Biden administration has decided to recommend directing $3.5 billion of Afghanistan’s $7 billion in foreign currency reserves in the United States to a trust fund for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, while agreeing to release another $3.5 billion to families […]

Afghanistan

US Sanctions on Afghanistan are Complicit in Mass Hunger, even as Biden withholds $3.5 bn in Afghan Money

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kevin Liptak and Natasha Bertrand report at CNN that the Biden administration has decided to split the $7 billion in Afghanistan government money held in the US and confiscated last August when the Taliban took over the country. $3.5 billion will be released for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan itself, while […]

Afghanistan

Suicide Bomber Who Killed U.S. Troops and Afghans “Likely” Used Unguarded Route to Kabul Airport Gate

ProPublica

By Brian J. Conley, Mohammad J. Alizada, Samira Nuhzat, Abdul Ahad Poya and Mirzahussain Sadid, Alive in Afghanistan, Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien | – ( ProPublica ) – Days before the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, thousands of desperate Americans and Afghan allies seeking to flee the country were using unguarded routes […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Report: U.S. Marines Returned Fire After Suicide Bombing, but No Enemies Were Shooting at Them

ProPublica

By Brian J. Conley and Mohammad J. Alizada, Alive in Afghanistan, and Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica | – ( ProPublica ) – During the final days of the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in August, a suicide bomber killed 13 American service members guarding an entrance to Kabul’s airport and scores of Afghan civilians […]

Afghanistan

Afghan Women’s Rights Activists Forcibly Disappeared (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

By Patricia Gossman | Associate Asia Director | ( Human Rights Watch ) – The Taliban’s response to the apparent enforced disappearance of Tamana Paryani, Parwana Ibrahimkhel, and other women activists in Afghanistan has laid bare their intent to eradicate critical women’s voices through unlawful use of force. Taliban leaders have denied arresting the women, […]