Archives

Self-Sufficiency on Paper

Five years on, the Taliban present an Afghanistan on the road to self-sufficiency: 330 “self-sufficient” products, 6,500 factories and $2.389 billion in deals. Almost none of it can be checked, and the data that can be checked tell a different story.

NATO’s Ambition Is Outpacing Its Political Guarantees

A Reuters commentary raises a fair alarm, but it blends Washington’s present-day signals with elections still years off, and lets capability shortfalls, political resolve and an unknowable future all stand in as proof of a single argument. NATO does have a coherent war plan. General Grynkewich’s “block, blunt, break” concept is clear, yet it still […]

The Taliban’s Spokesman Blames Pakistan For A Fire Kabul Lit

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief mouthpiece, now insists that ISIS has been wiped out of Afghanistan and that Pakistan is the one sheltering and sustaining the group. It is a brazen falsehood, delivered by the spokesman of a regime that has turned its own soil into a sanctuary for militants. The record speaks against him. […]

Enabling Terrorism

INSURGENCIES militarise society and spawn a conflict economy that empowers splinter insurgent groups with their own set of interests and objectives. These militant groups thrive in a governance vacuum as well as the ideological confusion in post-conflict societies. The TTP is amongst the classic examples of insurgency-begotten militancy and terrorism. Afghanistan is a quintessential case […]

Afghanistan’s Crisis Within: Can Political Confrontation Distract from a Deepening Humanitarian Emergency?

A country facing mass hunger, worsening malnutrition, collapsing humanitarian support and economic uncertainty cannot afford to let political confrontation overshadow the crisis unfolding within its own borders. Millions face hunger, children are increasingly vulnerable to malnutrition, healthcare services are deteriorating, and economic opportunities remain severely constrained. Yet the Taliban government’s political discourse increasingly revolves around […]

Pakistan’s Calibrated Deterrence Rewrites South Asia’s Strategic Equation

New Delhi Alarmed As Pakistan Speaks With Confidence Writing in [The Tribune], Shyam Saran, former chairman of India’s National Security Advisory Board, reads the recent remarks of Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai as proof of a real shift in Pakistan’s posture, which he attributes to a stronger Chinese commitment, a partial revival of American backing and […]

Hibutullah’s Doctrine and the TTP Paradox 

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to read a rather fascinating work, Da Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah Aqeedah, authored by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban. For anyone seeking to understand the ideological and religious foundations underpinning the Afghan Taliban’s worldview, this book offers a valuable insight and deserves to be read […]

Growing International Trust in Pakistan’s Military

The Foreign Office has announced that the secretary general of the Makkah Defense Alliance, a Pakistani military officer, retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood, is expected to assume his responsibilities in Riyadh soon. Lt General Nauman Mahmood was appointed as the first secretary general of the Defense Agreement last August. The agreement empowers the three members […]

The Taliban’s Diplomatic Windfall, the Region’s Security Burden

Afghanistan’s Taliban government is gaining international legitimacy while militant threats associated with its territory remain unresolved. Russia has formally recognised Kabul’s rulers, China is pursuing economic cooperation, and regional powers continue discussing connectivity projects. Yet a fundamental question remains: what verifiable counterterrorism commitments have the Taliban delivered in exchange for their growing diplomatic acceptance? The […]