Having taken charge of multiple vital border trading posts, the Taliban is now increasingly in control of the Afghan drug trade.
President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani at the White House for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on June 25, 2021.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)
Academic research in conflict zones suggests Ghani’s resignation could actually be Afghanistan’s best chance at peace – but not under the conditions the Taliban is demanding.
Residents in Kabul, Afghanistan walk past artists from the ArtLords organization as they paint a mural of journalists who were killed in 2018.
(AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)
Afghanistan’s Artlords are using art on blast walls to advocate for social change and to stand in contrast to the country’s war lords, drug lords and corruption.
Afghan citizens at a March 2021 rally in Kabul to support peace talks between the Taliban and the government.
Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Burqas and male chaperones for women were features of the Taliban’s extremist rule of Afghanistan in the 1990s. Those policies are now back in some districts controlled by these Islamic militants.
In early 2021, some Taliban fighters surrendered their weapons to support peace talks with the Afghan government. Today the Islamic extremist group is battling government forces to control the country.
Xinhua/Emran Waak via Getty Images
Two decades have passed since the US invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban’s Islamic extremist regime. Despite efforts to update its image, the group still holds hard-line views.
A handover ceremony as U.S. troops prepare to leave Afghanistan.
Afghan Ministry of Defense Press Office via AP
There is much at stake as the US withdraws troops from Afghanistan. A political philosopher explains why the US cannot escape the moral consequences of its actions.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, center, greets Gen. Scott Miller, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, upon Miller’s July 14, 2021, return to the U.S. at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Alex Brandon - Pool/Getty Images
A scholar and practitioner of foreign policy and national security offers personal and professional perspectives on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Afghan men bury a victim of deadly bombings near a girls’ school in May.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP
In its peace deal with the US, the Taliban ‘pledged’ to prevent al-Qaeda from operating out of Afghanistan. But there are signs the terror group is already there, hiding out of sight.
The Afghan military appears to be losing the battle against Taliban insurgents.
EPA-EFE/Ghulamullah Habibi
Afghanistan is descending into anarchy as Nato troops withdraw, leaving the country desperately fighting off a Taliban insurgency.
Militiamen join Afghan security forces during a gathering in Kabul last month. Together, they are trying to stem the tide of the latest Taliban gains.
Rahmat Gul/AP
In Afghanistan, it does not pay to be on the losing side. There is a danger that a spreading perception the Taliban are poised to take over could trigger a wave of government and army defections.
After 20 years in Afghanistan and many promises made, the U.S. does hold responsibility for Afghans’ fate, including their human right to access education.
In this March 2019 photo, Afghan artists work on a barrier wall of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs marking International Women’s Day, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
As American troops leave Afghanistan, a scholar of the country’s history and culture reexamines his photos of the nation’s people.
Long time there: U.S. troops maneuver around the central part of the Baghran river valley as they search for remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida forces on Feb. 24, 2003.
Aaron Favila/Pool/AP Photo
The Afghanistan War now has an end date: 9/11/21. Experts explain the history of US involvement in Afghanistan, the peace process to end that conflict and how the country’s women are uniquely at risk.
Audience members listen to Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi speak in 2014. Women’s access to politics increased greatly after the Taliban’s 2001 ouster.
Sha Marai/AFP via Getty Images
Afghan women interviewed about current talks between the government and the Taliban say, ‘There is no going back.’ Taliban fundamentalist rule in the 1990s forced women into poverty and subservience.
Little was achieved in the first round of talks last year. As round two is set to begin, there are major obstacles to overcome to finally bring peace to Afghanistan.
Taliban militants and Afghan civilians celebrate the signing of a peace deal with the United States on March 2.
Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)
Because the Taliban’s insurgency is so well financed, the Afghan government must spend enormous sums on war, too. A peace accord would free up funds for basic services, economic development and more.
Afghan security forces gather near the site of an attack in Jalalabad in August 2020.
AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Now is the time to reflect carefully on what we ask of, and how we best support, those soldiers who serve in our name.
Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of the peace talks with the Afghan government, Doha, Qatar, Sept. 12, 2020.
Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images
In February, the US signed an accord with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan War. Now Taliban insurgents are meeting with the Afghan government – but peace remains an uncertain outcome.