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