Zia Sarhadi

That the takfiri terrorists (also known as: the Islamic State (IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or Da’ish) have been operating in Afghanistan for some years now is well known. What is less well […]

Pakistan’s boycott of the December 5 US-sponsored conference on Afghanis-tan in Bonn, Germany reduced it to little more than a farce. It was like a wedding without the groom. Pakistan boycotted to protest th […]

Is the US endgame in Afghanistan real? If so, it appears to have entered a crucial phase under the cover of a series of international conferences to facilitate US troop withdrawal from the war-torn country. Some […]

Afghanistan’s most powerful warlord, Ahmed Wali Karzai, half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was shot and killed by Sardar Mohammed, a trusted family friend and security commander, at his home in Qa […]

The removal — real or fake — of Osama bin Laden from the equation in the US war on terror has opened up new possibilities for what could be achieved in Afghanistan. While much attention is focussed on US mov […]

Talk about desperation; the Americans are falling over themselves to talk to the Taliban but the Afghans are in no hurry to meet, even if offered lamb kebab and rice as inducement. Carefully planted rumors in the […]

Even as American officials optimistically talk about starting troop withdrawal from Afghanistan according to schedule in July, news about their atrocities continue to send shock waves globally. Recent reports and […]

With global attention focussed on uprisings in the Islamic East, US officials have quietly announced plans for permanent military bases in Afghanistan. This flies in the face of earlier assertions that the US and […]

A non-descript country like Afghanistan has become the epicenter of global change sending not one but two superpowers into the dustbin of history. At a superficial level, it seems unbelievable that the dirt poor […]

In an incredible twist of events that would qualify as a script for a spy thriller, the Americans are publicly claiming credit for “succeeding” in convincing the Taliban, especially some members of the Quett […]

Even the most diehard warriors in Washington have realized that the war in Afghanistan is lost. David Petraeus, the much-touted American general whose admirers never tire of reminding Americans that it was his […]

The Americans are caught, literally, between and a rock and a hard place in Afghanistan. The mountainous country has one of the toughest people on earth that have never allowed foreigners to dominate them. They […]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai may be an American puppet but he is no fool. He knows that US-NATO troops are on their way out and the sooner he mends fences with the Taliban the greater his chances of physical […]

Events in Afghanistan are moving so fast that it is often difficult to keep pace. The two-day visit to Islamabad (March 9 and 10) by the Afghan President Hamid Karzai was preceded by two other events: a visit on […]

Regardless of US spin, the endgame in Afghanistan has begun. Aware that they cannot defeat the Taliban militarily, the Americans have changed tune. They are now talking about enticing “moderate” Taliban from […]

US President Barack Obama’s deadline to close the notorious prison camp at the illegally occupied Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has come and gone but there appears no immediate prospect that he would be able to do so […]

In the midst of all the chatter about US President Barack Obama’s announcement of a troop surge in Afghanistan, it might be worthwhile to remember some basic facts. December 27 marked the 30th anniversary of th […]

What exactly is the US doing in Afghanistan? And why is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance that was created to defend Europe against Soviet attack involved in the war-ravaged […]

If the Afghans had their way, they would tell the Americans and their Western allies what to do with their democracy and elections. While Hamid Karzai has been forced, under US pressure to agree to a run-off […]

The bigger story in Afghanistan is not that Hamid Karzai was forced by Western pressure to admit to a run-off presidential election. Karzai’s surrender came on October 21 and the new round, if it occurs, is sc […]