Afghan Taliban

Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand line have been at the receiving end of some of the most grotesque and intense violence by the Taliban.

In return for not hosting American bases on Pakistani soil, Islamabad wants the Afghan Taliban to rein in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The fate of the Afghan government following the Soviet withdrawal is more complex than sometimes assumed. That has lessons for Kabul today.

The coming weeks and months will reveal the exact role the United States envisions for Pakistan in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal is complete.

"If such a step is taken, then the responsibility for all the misfortunes and difficulties lies upon those who commit such mistakes.”

If guarantees of preserving progress in women’s rights are not included in any potential political settlement, they remain prone to reverses. 

After the last American soldier departs Afghanistan in September, India and Pakistan will be left with some very difficult, unsavory, choices.

The Taliban warned journalists to stop giving “one-sided news in support of Afghanistan's intelligence" service or "face the consequences."

Since the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, Afghan casualties -- both military and civilian -- have soared. That bodes ill for the future.

By all available evidence, the Taliban remain a group of militants whose primary driver is the imposition of their extremist ideology.

“With the return of the Taliban, society will be transformed and ruined… Women will be sent into hiding.”