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.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss Tom’s recent testimony before the Senate, why the Islamic State bombed a mosque in Kunduz, and the Pakistani Taliban’s ongoing jihad. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force […]
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.
Note: On September 30, 2021, Thomas Joscelyn testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing titled, “To receive testimony on Afghanistan.” You can watch a recording of the hearing here, and you can read his full written testimony here. An excerpt, without footnotes, is below. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Inhofe, members of the […]
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 Taliban has announced the “interim” leadership of its newly restored Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. FDD’s Lpng War Journal profiles 22 of these figures, many of whom were sanctioned by the U.N. in 2001, are designated terrorists, or are former Guantanamo detainees. Multiple Taliban leaders have worked with al Qaeda.
The mountainous fortress province of Panjshir fell only seven days after the Taliban launched its assault. The Taliban is now in complete control of the country, and is set to declare its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Taliban launched attacks on three mountain passes that lead to Panjshir province, the last bastion of resistance in Afghanistan. The National Resistance Front repelled the assault.
Al Qaeda’s central media arm, As Sahab, released a two-page statement praising the Taliban’s “historic victory” in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda fought alongside the Taliban to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
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.
While the Panjshir resistance’s odds remain long, it stands a chance to not only divert and disrupt Taliban operations but create a groundswell of interest that could lead to a larger campaign with more sustainable momentum.
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.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the need for accountability after 20 years of failures. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force in all of those areas, or even most of them. But jihadism […]
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.
The Taliban seized control of four more provincial capitals, and cemented it control of the strategic south with the capture of Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. The road to Kabul is now open.
With Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the hands of the Taliban, the rest of the south will go under Taliban control in short order.
Kandahar City, the country’s second largest city collapsed after Taliban forces besieged it for more than two months. It is the third major city to and the fourth provincial capital fall to the Taliban today.
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.
Ghazni is the tenth Afghan provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in the past week. Al Qaeda has deep roots in Ghazni. Osama bin Laden identified the province as a key safe haven for his men.
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.