Ex-president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai: «I understand perfectly well that if Russia build new relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can help us. Not the British as we kicked them out of the country several times, not the Americans as they’ve been killing us for 17 years, but Russia only».
Concussive bomb thunder and smells of gunpowder aren’t unusual for citizens of Nangarhar, the Afghan province where U.S forces recently dropped MOAB, the largest non-nuclear explosive device ever used.
This zone of my native country has been a battleground since the 1980’s Soviet war, which was followed by infestations of Osama bin-Laden’s al-Qaeda, the Taliban, pro-Pakistan mujahideen, and the Haqqani network. The latest plague – and target of that Mother of All Bombs – is Daesh, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Although I have written before about Afghanistan’s failed state, I dream of a day when the primary product of this land is tourism, not terrorism.
We have beautiful national parks, mountains, lakes and rivers, historic shrines and museums. You can look them up on Trip Advisor.
Sadly, some of these mountains and much of this land has been usurped by Daesh, as it was by other zealots before them.
Why Afghanistan? Three reasons, as they say in the real estate business: location, location, location.
24 people have been arrested in connection with Kabul military hospital attack, including Afghan generals, the Defense ministry said Wednesday.
Addressing a news conference in Kabul, Gen. Helaluddin Helal, the deputy minister of defense for strategic and intelligence affairs said that the arrests were for a variety of charges, including negligence, incompetence, and complicity.
Helal Revealed the findings of a preliminary investigation into the March 8 attack on the Sardar Mohammad Khan hospital in Kabul.
The Defense officials admitted that at least 50 people were killed in the attack that claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
The attack involved five terrorists, one of whom detonated explosive-packed car and four others entered, Helal said.
WASHINGTON — The Taliban is taking bold steps not only to reassert itself after the departure of NATO forces, but perhaps more importantly, to stave off the rising influence of the Islamic State among jihadis in Afghanistan.
On Monday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an audacious suicide attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul. By Tuesday, it had taken control of two districts in northern Afghanistan – well outside its traditional southern base of power – and was threatening to overrun the northern agricultural hub of Kunduz.
These moves take advantage of the security vacuum created by weak Afghan security forces, some regional experts say. But the Taliban is also facing mounting pressure from fighters within its own ranks drawn to the stunningly successful Islamic State. With its new activity, the Taliban is out to show restless commanders and fighters, as well as the Afghan people, that it remains a force to be reckoned with.
Recommended: How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz.
“ISIS is now seen as the winning horse in the race. It has imposed itself as the most powerful subversive Islamist movement – one that has been tremendously successful at accomplishing what it set out to do – and that is posing a serious challenge to other militant Islamist organizations from the Taliban to Hamas,” says Fawaz Gerges, a professor of contemporary Middle Eastern studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
