Afghanistan’s Taliban government is gaining international legitimacy while militant threats associated with its territory remain unresolved. Russia has formally recognised Kabul’s rulers, China is pursuing economic cooperation, and regional powers continue discussing
When delegates left Moscow on 5 October, they had little to show for the day. The eighth round of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan ended without a joint statement. According to the account Pakistan’s side offers, it was the
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, one of al-Qa`ida’s most durable assets may be a name rather than a commander, training camp or
Anti-Taliban armed resistance is spreading across Afghanistan, with the National Resistance Front, Afghanistan Freedom Front, Afghanistan United Front and National Mobilization Front claiming thousands
Pakistan has sought to project calm after Afghanistan’s Taliban government signed a new military technical cooperation agreement with Russia, arguing that the deal is limited in scope and will not fundamentally change
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In the evening of May 24, 2026, an assault on Taliban logistics vehicles was launched in the Afghan district of Surobi, Kabul. One Taliban fighter died, and three others sustained injuries. An organization
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has issued a strong warning to states over the ongoing involuntary return of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, calling the practice a violation
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The European Union is facing a new wave of controversy after inviting representatives of the Taliban to Brussels for discussions focused on increasing deportations of Afghan nationals, a move that critics say
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In modern conflicts, wars are no longer fought only on battlefields. They are increasingly fought through narratives, international reporting, digital information campaigns and competing claims over legitimacy. Civilian casualty reporting has become
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On May 7, 2026, Leilma, an Ismaili woman and wife of Salam Maftoon, a local singer, was killed at the Ishkashim Bazaar in the Ishkashim District of Badakhshan Province. The attacker used
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In the realist tradition of international relations, regimes driven by ideology and internal consolidation often transform into sanctuaries for non-state actors. They provide safe havens to aligned militant groups as proxies for
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In an interconnected security environment, threats do not travel alone. They move with narratives, and increasingly, those narratives shape international responses as much as the threats themselves. In late 2024, Zabihullah Mujahid,
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Afghanistan does not need a softer public relations line. It needs proof that it can act like a responsible state. That means controlling armed groups, respecting borders, treating its own people with
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Modern states are formed on the promise to provide fundamental rights, including education, health-related facilities,s and security. It creates a bedrock of the social contract and establishes legitimacy. In Afghanistan, 90% of
More Over the past two decades, Afghanistan has cycled through war, foreign intervention, and fragile attempts at political transition. The Taliban’s return in August 2021—twenty years after their removal by U.S.-led forces—marked a
More Four years after seizing control in 2021, the Taliban regime is not consolidating control, it is unraveling from within. Far from the “peace and stability” they promised, Afghanistan today is a pressure
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In Afghanistan, humanitarian reporting has become one of the most influential lenses through which the crisis is understood internationally. Yet that lens is increasingly incomplete. By focusing heavily on civilian suffering without
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It is no longer credible to treat Afghanistan’s terrorism problem as a purely internal Afghan matter. Since the Taliban returned to Kabul in August 2021, Afghanistan has increasingly functioned as a permissive
More The Taliban present their rule as grounded in Sharia. Nearly five years after returning to power, Afghanistan is governed less as an Islamic system and more as a centralized structure of authority
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