Tag: Afghanistan

(Afghanistan) Taliban expect US withdrawal in May; vow to restore Islamic rule (Al Jazeera)

Taliban stand firm on demand for an Islamic government in Afghanistan, though they do not elaborate on what it would look like. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/19/afghan-president-replaces-security-ministers-in-surprise-move

(Afghanistan) In Afghan delegation for Moscow talks, ‘only one woman in room’ (Al Jazeera)

Rights advocate and politician Habiba Sarabi only woman in 12-member delegation of Afghan government and leaders attending Moscow talks. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/19/in-afghan-delegation-for-moscow-talks-only-one-woman-in-room

(UN/Afghanistan) UN chief appoints personal envoy to Afghanistan (Al Jazeera)

Antonio Guterres appoints veteran French diplomat Jean Arnault as his personal envoy to Afghanistan ahead of peace talks in Moscow. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/18/un-chief-appoints-personal-envoy-to-afghanistan

(USA/Afghanistan) Biden says ‘tough’ to meet May 1 Afghanistan withdrawal deadline (Al Jazeera)

US president disparages agreement struck by former President Trump with Taliban as ‘not very solidly negotiated’. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/17/biden-says-afghanistan-withdrawal-deadline-of-may-1-tough

(USA/Afghanistan) US official warns Congress on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan (Al Jazeera)

Removing US troops without a peace deal would be ‘a disaster’, says John Sopko, as new talks set to begin in Moscow. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/16/us-official-warns-congress-on-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan

(Afghanistan) Aid cuts by US, other donors could imperil Afghan gov’t: Watchdog (Al Jazeera)

International aid to Afghanistan decreased from a high of $6.7bn in 2011, down to $4.2bn in 2019, according to World Bank data. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/16/aid-cuts-by-us-others-could-imperil-afghanistan-govt-watchdog

(Afghanistan/USA) US special envoy to attend Afghan peace talks in Moscow (Al Jazeera)

Taliban and government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have agreed to attend meeting in Russian capital on Thursday. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/15/us-special-envoy-to-attend-afghan-peace-talks-in-moscow

(USA/Afghanistan) Why staying in Afghanistan is the least bad choice for Biden (Brookings)

Madiha Afzal and Michael E. O’Hanlon Can the United States, under the Biden administration, responsibly end its forever war in Afghanistan? https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/03/12/why-staying-in-afghanistan-is-the-least-bad-choice-for-biden/

(USA/Afghanistan) US proposes interim gov’t could run Afghanistan until new polls (Al Jazeera)

Draft peace plan calls for current government to be replaced with interim administration until a new constitution is agreed and elections held. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/9/us-proposes-interim-govt-could-run-afghanistan-until-new-polls

(Afghanistan) Something has to give: The cost of no peace in Afghanistan (The Interpreter)

SUSANNE SCHMEIDL Wavering US commitment, a weak government and a waiting Taliban keep Afghans’ future at risk. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/something-has-give-cost-no-peace-afghanistan

(Afghanistan) Afghan president ‘ready to discuss elections’ to advance talks (Al Jazeera)

Ghani met US special envoy to Afghanistan in Kabul to discuss ways to accelerate peace negotiations with the Taliban. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/6/afghan-president-ready-to-discuss-elections-to-advance-talks

(USA/Afghanistan) Inclusivity is key to salvaging the US–Taliban Doha deal (East Asia Forum)

Imtiaz Gul, CRSS Islamabad The deal struck by the United States with the Afghan Taliban in Doha on 29 February 2020 was de facto recognition...

(Afghanistan) Seven Ethnic Hazaras Killed in Eastern Afghanistan (The Defense Post)

At least seven members of Afghanistan’s persecuted Hazara ethnic group were brutally murdered in the country’s restive east, officials said Thursday, in the latest...

(Afghanistan) Three Female Media Workers Shot to Death in Eastern Afghanistan (The Defense Post)

Three female media workers were shot and killed in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared...

(Afghanistan/USA) Afghans’ views on the Doha peace process and the Biden administration’s review of the US-Taliban peace agreement

Makhfi Azizi After briefly resuming on January 5, the intra-Afghan peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have been slow to progress, and the two sides have not met since the...

(Afghanistan) Attacks Targeting Afghan Civilians Spread Terror (HRW)

Patricia Gossman With Afghan peace talks making little progress, the latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) makes for grim reading. Although 2020...