South Asia

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

“Even If You Go to the Skies, We’ll Find You”: LGBT People in Afghanistan After the Taliban Takeover

Human Rights Watch

(Human Rights Watch ) – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Afghanistan, and others who do not conform to rigid gender norms, have faced an increasingly desperate situation and grave threats to their safety and lives since the Taliban took full control of the country on August 15, 2021.[1] Human Rights Watch and […]

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, […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Taliban Deprive Women of Livelihoods, Identity (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (New York) – Taliban rule has had a devastating impact on Afghan women and girls, new research shows, Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Institute at San Jose State University (SJSU) said today. The organizations looked at the conditions for women since the Taliban took control in Ghazni province, in […]

Afghanistan

Taliban 2.0 aren’t so different from the first regime, after all

The Conversation

By Atal Ahmadzai and Faten Ghosn | – The international community is closely monitoring the Taliban, after the group re-seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. There is legitimate reason for concern. The Taliban are again ruling through fear and draconian rules. The Taliban’s last regime, in the mid-1990s, was marked by human rights violations, […]