AFTER THE U.S. WITHDRAWAL: ONE YEAR LATER
LISTEN: Terrorism Analyst Bill Roggio
Intelligence Matters, Aug. 24, 2022
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Terrorism Analyst and Long War Journal Editor Bill Roggio on the state of the counterterrorism fight in Afghanistan a year after the full U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban regaining control of the country.
LISTEN: After the Fall: Lessons Learned and Unlearned in Afghanistan
By Clifford D. May, LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster, Bradley Bowman, and Bill Roggio
FDD, Aug. 19, 2022
One year ago, the U.S. military, under orders from the White House, allowed the Taliban to re-take control of Afghanistan.
MAIN BODY
Faith and Vengeance: The Islamic State’s War in Afghanistan
By Fazelminallah Qazizai and Chris Sands
New Lines, Aug. 1, 2022
It was Aug. 15, 2021, and the last U.S. troops were still sheltering at Kabul airport, waiting for the war to end, when the purge began. For 20 years the Taliban had been waging an insurgency in the name of jihad against foreign occupation. But with success now assured and their greatest enemy in retreat, they were already switching focus to another, more insidious, threat: their fellow Muslims in the Islamic State group. This time they would do their killing in the shadows. The first stage of their plan centered on a prison in Kabul’s heavily fortified diplomatic zone and was scheduled to unfold the same day the Afghan capital fell. Officials in the crumbling U.S.-backed government referred to the jail as Directorate 40. ….
How Strong Is the Islamic State in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan?
By Claire Parker
Washington Post, Aug. 19, 2022
A bomb blast that killed at least 21 worshipers, including an influential cleric, and injured more than 30 others in Afghanistan’s capital during evening prayers on Wednesday evening, according to Taliban officials and residents, has renewed focus on the threat to the Taliban posed by Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate. …
Afghanistan’s Terrorist Threats to America Are Growing
By Seth G. Jones
National Interest, Aug. 20, 2022
One year after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration faces a complex counterterrorism challenge. The successful U.S. strike in July 2022 that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul was a blow to Al Qaeda. But with the Taliban’s continuing close relationship with Al Qaeda and the deterioration of Afghanistan into a terrorist sanctuary, the United States needs to rethink its counterterrorism strategy. …
What Direction Will Al-Qaeda Move in After Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Death?
By EER Editorials
European Eye on Radicalization, Aug. 10, 2022
United States President Joe Biden announced on 1 August that Al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on 30 July. A year ago, in August 2021, a consortium of jihadists led by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda that answers to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency overthrew the Afghan government and re-established an Islamist regime. Some had believed that the Taliban would contain Al-Qaeda; this was always fanciful, and the discovery of Al-Qaeda’s emir in the Taliban capital only underlines how intertwined these two organisations are. Al-Qaeda once again controlling a state, and who is chosen as Zawahiri’s successor, have major implications for global security.
MORE TO READ
The Taliban’s War with Islamic State in Afghanistan
Journeyman Pictures, YouTube, Aug. 12, 2022
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban saw Afghanistan stripped of democracy. On top of this political upheaval, just 11 days after the Taliban took Afghanistan’s capital, Islamic State launched the first of several attacks in the country. …
Biden’s Appeasement in Afghanistan Endangers Us All
By Joni Ernst
National Review, Aug. 29, 2022
For 20 years, the United States military ensured the security of our homeland against the terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, a guarantee that has rapidly deteriorated since the catastrophic withdrawal last August….
In Afghanistan $7.1B In Planes, Trucks, Weapons Seized by Taliban Since Withdrawal: DOD Watchdog
By Justin Katz
Breaking Defense, Aug. 16, 2022
Nearly one year after the last US military aircraft departed Kabul, the Pentagon’s top watchdog says approximately $7.1 billion in US-funded planes, trucks and weaponry, all provided to the Afghan military, has been seized by the Taliban. …
ISIL Kills Its Outspoken Critic, Noted Advocate of Afghan Women’s Education Rahimullah Haqqani:
By Srijay Raj
The Print, Aug. 12, 2022
A prominent cleric and an outspoken critic of the Islamic State, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani has been killed in a bomb explosion at a madrasa in Kabul, the Taliban said. …
Taliban Appoints Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee to Lead Fight in Panjshir
By Bill Roggio
FDD, Aug. 21, 2022
The Taliban named Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as its military commander in the restive central Afghan province of Panjshir. Zakir, who was held at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility for six years, is considered to be one of the Taliban’s most effective and dangerous military commanders.
By Ryan Mills
National Review, Aug. 30, 2022
Rabah is still sure the Taliban wants him dead.
RELATED ARTICLES
The U.S. Holds Limited Influence in the Taliban’s Afghanistan
RELATED MEDIA LINKS
Afghanistan: one year since the Taliban takeover – Press Conference (15 August 2022)
Taliban in control: a year of power in Afghanistan