Several of the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf states have been involved, to varying degrees, in the more than 40 years of internal conflict in Afghanistan that appear to have ended with the Taliban movement’s second takeover of Afghan governance| The Soufan Center
Members of the Taliban’s leadership were on the defensive last week, attempting to downplay reports of infighting within the organization. Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister in the Taliban’s current government configuration| The Soufan Center
Twenty years after being ousted by United States-led forces, the Taliban have returned to power in Afghanistan. Just last week, the Taliban installed several members of the Haqqani Network—an insurgent group and subset of the Taliban—in senior government positions, including Sirajuddin Haqqani as interior minister and Khalil Haqqani| The Soufan Center
U.S. sanctions against the Taliban movement in Afghanistan have been in place, although with periodic modifications, since the 1996-2001 period of Taliban rule. U.S. sanctions imposed during that period were intended to pressure the movement to expel al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and to end abuses against Afghan| The Soufan Center
Recent reports suggest that girls have been able to attend school in Kunduz Province but remain barred from classrooms throughout much of Afghanistan, with many young women destroying evidence of higher education or employment for fear of retribution from the new Taliban government| The Soufan Center
Within weeks of the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan in late August, the movement’s leadership indicated that it would not allow foreign jihadist groups, including from Central Asia, to operate on Afghan territory| The Soufan Center
A recently released report by the UN Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team confirms what many in the counterterrorism community have been warning about — ties between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda remain strong and could grow stronger after the United States completes its troop withdrawal| The Soufan Center
In recent weeks, the United States has struggled to engineer a safe and orderly exit for Afghans seeking to depart the country, despite being the one to set the extraordinary timeline for an August 31 deadline| The Soufan Center