The US military’s estimate does not explain how the Taliban is able to support multiple concurrent offensives across the country and threaten five provincial capitals. Additionally, the military claims that only 3 of Helmand’s 14 districts are threatened by the Taliban.
A Taliban spokesman released a video of an interview of fighters from the base. Like the recent ambush in Helmand’s capital, the Taliban fighters clearly are not concerned about either a counterattack or airstrikes.
Islamic State’s Khorasan province and the Karachi faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan both claimed credit for the attack on a police academy in Quetta that killed more than 60 cadets. Pakistani officials claimed the suicide assault was executed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Almi.
Six provincial capitals now are threatened by the Taliban. On Oct. 16, the Taliban assaulted Maimana, Faryab’s capital from three directions and attacked the city’s airport and an Afghan Army base, but were repulsed by Afghan forces.
The shooter is said to have been wearing an Afghan Army uniform. If the shooting is confirmed to be a green-on-blue or insider attack, where Afghan police or soldiers target Coalition personnel, then it would be the first recorded incident since April 2015.
A Taliban video documents the aftermath of last week’s ambush on Afghan security personnel on the outskirts the provincial capital of Helmand which resulted in scores of troops killed and dozens more captured.
The Taliban threatens two capitals in the north (Kunduz City and Pul-i-Khumri), two in the south (Tarin Kot and Lashkar Gah), and one in the west (Farah City).
Reports from Afghanistan indicate that hundreds of police and soldiers were killed, captured, or defected to the Taliban after they tried to negotiate a withdrawal.
The Taliban regain control of Ghormach district in Faryab province. The district has been contested since the Taliban controlled it one year ago.
The Taliban’s “Real Men” video contradicts many of its public statements where the group claims it only seeks to liberate Afghanistan from occupation. Instead, it makes it clear that the Taliban views itself as a defender of Islam and part of the global jihad.
“I say to Obama, today we take Kunduz, tomorrow … we will take the White House,” a Taliban fighter at a checkpoint in Kunduz threatened. The US military claimed Kunduz was cleared three days ago.
Achin district in Nangarhar remains a hub for the Islamic State’s Khorasan province. US and Afghan forces, as well as the Taliban, have fought to wrest areas of Nangarhar from Islamic State control.
Like in Kunduz, Resolute Support’s claim that Nawa district is under government control does not match press reporting from Afghanistan.
Resolute Support appears to be putting the best possible spin on the Taliban’s latest incursion into Kunduz City. Accounts from the city indicate that half of it is still occupied by the Taliban.
Taliban forces have entered the city of Kunduz once again. In late September 2015, the Taliban and its jihadist allies captured the city and briefly held it before being forced to retreat to the surrounding areas.
Taliban forces killed Nawa’s police chief while seizing the district center. The Taliban now controls six of Helmand’s 14 districts and heavily contest another seven.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, issued a strongly-worded statement that “condemns” a US airstrike on Sept. 28 which targeted Islamic State fighters in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. United States Forces – Afghanistan is investigating reports that an airstrike in the Taliban controlled district of Achin in Nangarhar killed 15 civilians. […]
US and Afghan forces struck a group of leaders and operatives from the Pakistan-based Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan, the Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda in the province of Paktika, according to reports from the region. At least one senior leader, known as Azam Tariq, is thought to have been killed in the strike.
General John Nicholson said that while the Taliban control 10 percent of the Afghan population and contest another 20 percent, “the enemy is primarily in more rural areas that have less impact on the future of the country.”
The video of fighters purportedly training and firing RPGs in the open in Swabi indicates that the Taliban have returned.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its most recent statistics on Guantanamo recidivism this week. 208 former detainees are either confirmed or suspected of rejoining the jihad. 188 of them were transferred or released during the Bush administration and the remaining 20 by the Obama administration. The estimated number of recidivists has steadily climbed since 2008, when the government first provided statistics on this topic.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan counters the Pakistani military’s claims that Operation Zarb-e-Azb has succeeded in defeating jihadists of all stripes in North Waziristan.
Tarin Kot is the second provincial capital in the south that is under direct threat of a Taliban takeover. Lashkar Gah in neighboring Helmand province is also contested by the Taliban.
The Taliban threatened to attack “judicial installations” if the Afghan government follows through on executing Anas Haqqani, the brother of the group’s deputy emir who is also the operational leader of the Haqqani Network.
The Taliban claimed credit for today’s suicide assault near the Afghan Ministry of Defense in Kabul that killed more than 20 people, including Army and police officials. The attack is the latest in a string of deadly assaults in the capital city over the past several months. The attack began as the Taliban detonated “a […]
The Taliban continues to press its offensive in all regions of Afghanistan. Omna district in Paktika province fell to the Taliban after four days of fighting.
Al Qaeda claims that two of Ayman al Zawahiri’s daughters and a third woman were exchanged for the son of Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in either late July or early August. The Long War Journal cannot independently verify the claim, but it is known that al Qaeda had been trying to exchange at least one kidnapped son of Pakistan’s elite for the women. Al Qaeda announced that the women and their children were released in early August.
Abu Dher al Barmi, the former mufti of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who defected in 2014, apologized for joining the Islamic State and encouraged others who joined the organization to leave it for other jihadist groups.
The US military continues to extol Afghan security forces as they continue to lose ground to the Taliban. In the last 24 hours, the district of Jani Khel in Paktia fell to the Taliban.
A senior Afghan official said that more than 80 percent of Helmand is Taliban controlled, and in many cases government forces are confined to district centers.