On Feb. 2, Bill Roggio testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security at a hearing titled, “The Dynamic Terrorism Landscape and What It Means for America.” His testimony focused on the state of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Pakistan, and the growing threat of global jihadism.
TTP emir Noor Wali Mehsud said that his group “is a branch of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” while traveling throughout Pakistan’s northern areas.
The Taliban has the advantage in all of the key areas, save one. The Taliban has state sponsors, terrorist allies, regional support, a marked superiority in weapons and numbers, and controls all of Afghanistan. ISKP can only match the Taliban in one area, and this the will to fight and persevere.
Haji Mali Khan was a top Haqqani Network and Taliban leader when he was detained by the U.S. in 2011. He was freed in 2019 in exchange for a U.S. and an Australian professor who were kidnapped in Kabul in 2016.
Qari Baryal led an element of the Kabul Attack Network, which attacked Coalition and Afghan forces, as well as civilians, in an around Kabul. He is closely allied with Al Qaeda and has received financial support from Iran.
With increased muscle, backing and resources, the TTP – which sent thousands of fighters into Afghanistan to help the Afghan Taliban conquer the country over the summer – can now refocus its efforts on its insurgency in order to overthrow the Pakistani state.
With control of the Ministry of Interior, Sirajuddin now has the power to issue passports to Al Qaeda operatives and their allies, all in the name of the government of Afghanistan.
The Taliban appointed former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as a deputy minister of defense, while Ibrahim Sadr, who has worked closely with Iran in the past, was named a deputy minister of the interior for security.
Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior Taliban and Haqqani Network leader, was intricately linked to Al Qaeda. he viewed the two groups as inseparable “brothers.” The U.S. killed Sangeen and an Al Qaeda bomb maker in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2013.
The video of Dr. Amin al Haq is evidence that Al Qaeda commanders now feel secure enough to appear publicly in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Prospects for this resistance, lead by Amrullah Saleh, are dim. He has a formidable task ahead of him and his prospects are bleak. The Taliban will seek to crush this last bastion of resistance.
The Taliban took control of the provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Faryab, Laghman, and Kunar today, as well as Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan’s second largest city. It is consolidating its control of the east in preparation for its final assault on Kabul.
Herat City is the Taliban’s biggest victory since it began taking control of provincial capitals in late July. With the fall of Herat and Qala-i-Naw, the Taliban now fully controls the west.
The Taliban seeks to consolidate recent gains in Kunduz and Jawzjan provinces, and deny the Afghan military the ability to counterattack
The north, where many Afghan power brokers are base, is now in a state of general collapse. Seven of the nine northern provincial capitals are under Taliban control.
Eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban in less than a week. The Taliban now fully controls four provinces; Farah, Jawzjan, Nimruz, and Takhar.
The Taliban is sweeping up northern capitals. Aybak is the fifth northern capital to fall to the Taliban in three days, and and the sixth in four days.
The Taliban took control of the provincial capitals of Kunduz and Sar-i-Pul cities, while Taloqan, the capital of Takhar, is under direct threat. Four provincial capitals have now fallen under Taliban control in the past three days.
Shibirghan, the capital of the northern province of Jawzjan and the home of warlord Marshall Abdul Rashid Dostum, fell to the Taliban today.
The Taliban took control of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province, without a fight. The western locale is the first provincial capital to fall under Taliban control since it launched its offensive across the country in May.
The Taliban has advanced on Lashkar Gah from the north and south, and is trying to squeeze Afghan forces in the city center. Lashkar Gah is in danger of falling to the Taliban.
The Taliban is fighting inside Herat City, has seized control of a key district, and has taken control of the road that connects the provincial capital with the airport.
The Taliban’s rural insurgency strategy is clearly seen in Kandahar province, where the provincial capital of Kandahar City is now under direct threat of falling under Taliban control.
The Taliban and al Qaeda advanced throughout Afghanistan after President Biden announced the withdrawal of American and NATO forces on Apr. 14.
The Taliban’s strategy of seizing rural districts has not only allowed it to surround major cities and put pressure on population centers, it has also enabled it to squeeze the Afghan government’s revenue from goods crossing the border.
The Taliban entered Qala-i-Naw, the provincial capital of Badghis, stormed the city’s prison and freed inmates, and briefly seized control of the governor’s office and the police and National Directorate of Security headquarters before government forces counterattacked.
The importance of the Taliban’s northern thrust cannot be understated. If the Taliban can deny Afghanistan’s government and its backers their base of power, Afghanistan is effectively lost.
The Taliban’s multiyear strategy of gaining influence in the rural districts to pressure the population centers is paying dividends.
The Taliban has gone on the offensive in northern Afghanistan and is on the verge of taking control of Kunduz province if Afghan security forces cannot stay the siege of Kunduz City. Kunduz is one of eight provinces in danger of falling to the Taliban before U.S. forces are scheduled to completely withdraw in September. […]
The Taliban took control of nine districts in Takhar and is fighting inside Kunduz City. The Afghan military has so far been unable to halt the onslaught, particularly in the north, where the Taliban has the momentum and is dictating the pace of the fighting.