The Taliban took control of nine districts in Takhar and is fighting inside Kunduz City. The Afghan military has so far been unable to halt the onslaught, particularly in the north, where the Taliban has the momentum and is dictating the pace of the fighting.
In the six weeks since the May 1 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban has seized control of 32 additional districts, their reach spanning half of the country’s 34 provinces.
Edmund Fitton-Brown joins hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio to discuss his team’s most recent report on Afghanistan. Fitton-Brown is a former British diplomat. He is currently coordinator of the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today […]
The disbursed locations of the Taliban attacks will force the already strained Afghan military to divide its forces if it wants to retake the districts.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the basic epistemological problems that plague analyses of al Qaeda nearly 20 years after 9/11. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force in all of those areas, or […]
The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reports that as of April 2021, the Taliban contests or controls “an estimated 50 to 70 per cent of Afghan territory” and exerts “direct control over 57 per cent of district administrative centres.” LWJ’s analysis of the security situation is very similar.
The Afghan military targeted Al Qaeda’s network in four different districts in Helmand province over the past month. Al Qaeda was operating a “training center” and fighting alongside the Taliban.
Taliban will continue to wage its war against a weakened Afghan government to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A look at how the Taliban may attempt to achieve this goal now that U.S. forces, which were unable to prevent the Taliban from seizing key rural districts, will soon be gone.
With the fall of Dawlat Shah, the Taliban now control one of Laghman’s five districts, and contest the other four. The Taliban is laying the groundwork for a potential siege of Kabul, which likely would take place if the Taliban could first secure the south and east.
FDD’s Long War Journal has assessed that 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces are under direct Taliban threat.
Hosts Tom and Bill discuss recent statements by al Qaeda concerning the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Al Qaeda has commented on Palestinian issues often, but otherwise has had little to do with the situation. Bill also discusses his updated map of the war in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has steadily made gains. Powered by […]
The number of Afghan districts controlled and contested by the Taliban has nearly doubled since early 2018. With the withdrawal of U.S. airpower and special operations forces, the Taliban is poised to take over large regions of the country.
The security situation in Wardak province and neighboring Logar is dire. A potential battle for control of Kabul will likely begin in Wardak and Logar.
The move presages a coming Taliban offensive, which the goal is to reestablish its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by force.
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss President Biden’s to withdraw U.S. military forces from Afghanistan. It’s understandable that he doesn’t want any more Americans to die there, but the Afghans continue to fight a global jihadist threat. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from […]
The Taliban demanded that all U.S. forces leave by May 1. It has threatened to resume attacks on U.S. forces if they do not leave by the date agreed upon in the Doha Accords.
The Taliban denied that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. and questioned whether he was killed by U.S. soldiers in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.
Based on reports from Al Qaeda, the United Nations, and press reports, the terror group and its allies are operating in 21 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio briefly discuss recent reporting on the Biden administration’s deliberations concerning a withdrawal from Afghanistan. They also discuss ISIS’ surge in Mozambique. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force in […]
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security killed an Al Qaeda commander and a Taliban leader during a recent operation in the eastern province of Paktika. The two supported Al Qaeda’s operations in the east and planned and supported high profile attacks.
After President Biden said it would be difficult for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, the Taliban threatened to “continue its Jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces.”
The Taliban’s celebration of Mullah Saif ur Rahman Mansoor and the battle of Shahi Kot is a reminder of the Taliban’s enduring relationship with Al Qaeda.
The plan called for the current Afghan constitution to serve as the framework for a future constitution, elections, and power sharing, all of which have been flatly rejected by the Taliban in the past.
Nearly forty percent of the police checkpoints across Afghanistan have been shut down. The Afghan Army abandoned a military base in Badghis, giving the Taliban full control of a district.
The Taliban called for the return of its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as it denounced the Afghan government as a “corrupt and illegitimate regime.”
In episode 42 of Generation Jihad, hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s comments on the U.S.-Taliban deal. They explain why there isn’t much for the Biden administration to assess. The Taliban was never interested in peace and hasn’t taken any steps to break with al Qaeda.
The U.S. Treasury Department states in a Jan. 4 memo that al Qaeda is “gaining strength” in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s protection. The same memo points to the Islamic State’s “logistical hubs” inside Turkey.
Afghan security forces continue to target Al Qaeda as the Taliban promises that it won’t allow allow foreign fighters to attack the West, even though the Taliban claims Al Qaeda doesn’t exist inside Afghanistan.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio air and discuss their 2020 grievances, which pale in comparison to the problems faced by so many around the world today.
Despite the repeated targeting, killing, and capturing of Al Qaeda leaders and operatives, the Taliban maintains that the terror group does not operate in Afghanistan.