Monthly Archives: October 2018





US and partner nations seek to disrupt Iran-Taliban nexus

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) designated nine individuals who are undermining the Afghan government. The nine include six Taliban leaders, two officials in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and a narcotics trafficker based in Pakistan.






Taliban attacks meeting attended by General Miller, kills Kandahar police chief

General Miller, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was present at the meeting but was not wounded. The the governor of Kandahar and the head of the province’s National Directorate of Security were among those killed. The assassination of Raziq is a major blow to the Afghan government. He was arguably the most powerful player in the Afghan south and a stalwart ally of the US, and he may not be easily replaced.


IRGC appoints new chief for construction arm

Saeed Mohammad is the first IRGC-KAA commander who does not have a military background, who also falls in line with a trend of appointments of younger managers at top positions in the IRGC, unlike the current commanders whose formative years were in combat during the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988.



Analysis: Jihadists in Syria react to Sochi agreement

Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the most powerful jihadist organization in Idlib province, has finally issued a statement addressing the agreement reached between Turkey and Russia last month. HTS vows to continue waging jihad, and warns that it doesn’t trust Russia’s “intentions,” but does not directly repudiate the Sochi accord.




Taliban confirms meeting with US delegation in Doha

The Taliban says its representatives met with an American delegation in Doha on Oct. 12. The group says that members of the “Political Office” of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” stressed that the “presence of foreign forces” is “the greatest obstacle obstructing true peace and solving problems.” The Taliban’s overall leader previously blessed “direct dialogue” with the Americans, so long as the talks focused on an American withdrawal.





Taliban calls for attacks to disrupt Afghan elections

The US wants the Taliban to lay down its arms and recognize the legitimacy of the Afghan government. The State Department has even encouraged the group to “turn their bullets and bombs into ballots” and “vote.” But in a new statement, the Taliban again rejects Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections, saying it is a “demand of our faith” that they be “prevented from taking place.”