- "Islamic State claims deadly school bombing in Kabul," Thomas Joscelyn, FDD's Long War Journal
In what has become an all too familiar scene in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters celebrated their victory and looted a district center in broad daylight, without fear of reprisal.
Taliban leader demands US withdraw from Afghanistan, blasts government as ‘corrupt regime’
The Taliban has released a new statement attributed to its emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who says there will only be "peace" when America leaves Afghanistan. Akhundzada blasts the current Afghan government as a "corrupt regime" and portrays the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as the only legitimate authority.
Nearly two and a half years ago, General David Petraeus (ret.) wrote an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, titled, ‘5 ‘big ideas’ to guide us in the Long War against Islamic extremism’.
- His fundamental point was that the U.S. had to get the ‘big ideas’ right in order to establish a framework for success for the military and diplomatic missions.
- Iraq had made clear to Petraeus that we “could not kill or capture our way out of the sizable insurgency that plagued Iraq; rather, though killing and capturing were necessary, we needed to reconcile with as many of the insurgent rank and file as was possible.”
- It’s a particularly interesting perspective and one worth revisiting as the Afghan Taliban both requests talks with the U.S. while launching a string of particularly deadly operations across Afghanistan.
- While Pentagon chief Jim Mattis characterized the Ghazni attack as an attempt to gain press coverage, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada called for direct talks with the U.S.
- Bottom Line: The security situation in Afghanistan is not likely to improve in the months ahead as Afghan Taliban forces continue to launch deadly assaults against Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), which have proven unable to consistently fend off such attacks.