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. The Afghan government has been unable to regain control in any of the 32 districts. FDD’s Long War Journal has closely […]
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 […]
A report by a U.N. monitoring team cites new intelligence concerning Sirajuddin Haqqani’s ties to al Qaeda. The report also mentions the Hattin Shura, which U.S. officials say is the most important decision-making body within al Qaeda.
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.
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.
