It appears that Americans are inevitably faced with a Trump / Clinton duel. One of the two could define international diplomacy in the coming years. President Obama leaves them a mixed legacy on foreign policy in general, and on the “AfPak” dossier
Killing of Taliban leader Akhter Mansour was a gross error of judgement on America’s part. He had managed the Taliban very well as proxy of Mullah Omar for nearly two years after Omar’s death, and had succeeded in making them part of
In a compromised bid to unite the ranks after months of internal rifts, Taliban leadership has now appointed Mullah Omar’s Brother Mullah Manan and son Mullah Yaqoub to senior leadership posts. The spokesperson for the insurgent group further detailed that the leadership
With the Taliban’s declaration of Spring Offensive, fighting is likely to pick up the usual momentum. Last year was a turbulent year for the Afghan government, its security forces and the people. Taliban undertook numerous tactical attacks alongside takeover of small and
Politico-military situation in Afghanistan is quite complex. As regards military balance of power, James R Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, recently warned that fighting in Afghanistan will be “more intense” this year than 2015 and that Afghans will continue to
We often forget that a significant proportion of refugees who now knock on the door of Europe are Afghans. Between January and December 2015, they were 200,000 to seek asylum in one of the EU countries. 6 times more than in 2014.
The recently held Afghan peace talks, in which senior officials from the Afghan government, Pakistan, China and the US participated called for restoration of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Whether, the talks would yield positive result or like
Post-event Report Lt. Gen (R) Talat Masood visited IPRI on November 26, 2015 to deliver lecture on “Afghanistan- A year after drawdown: Challenges and Opportunities”. The lecture was delivered to IPRI scholars in IPRI’s Conference Hall. Following are the salient points of
Afghan Taliban leaders, who had refused to accept Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as successor to Mullah Omar, have formally announced Mullah Mohammad Rasool as head of their splinter group. Dissident leaders met in Farah province of Afghanistan and elected new leaders. Presumably they
Being a neighbor, Pakistan gives paramount importance to its relations with Afghanistan as Pakistan’s peace and stability depends on Afghan peace and stability. Traditionally, Pak-Afghan relationship has been characterized by mutual mistrust and lack of confidence and third parties have always been
