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
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
Qatar’s main antagonist within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) - the UAE - grabbed headlines and renewed Trump administration affection with its August decision, joined by Bahrain, to normalize relations with Israel as part of the ‘Abraham Accords.’| The Soufan Center