Taliban

List of Taliban articles

A man sells stickers picturing Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada at market in Kabul.
A man sells stickers picturing Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada at market in Kabul.

It’s Time To Recognize the Taliban

The absence of a U.S. diplomatic presence leaves Washington powerless and strengthens the extremists in Kabul.

Afghan children read the Quran at a madrassa, an Islamic school, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Afghan children read the Quran at a madrassa, an Islamic school, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

School Is in for the Taliban’s New Model Army

Extremist curriculum is teaching children how to hate, not how to think.

Mohammad Arsala Kharoti, the Taliban's deputy minister for refugees, speaks to the media as UNHCR protection chief Gillian Triggs watches at the airport in Kabul on April 30.
Mohammad Arsala Kharoti, the Taliban's deputy minister for refugees, speaks to the media as UNHCR protection chief Gillian Triggs watches at the airport in Kabul on April 30.

The Taliban Aim to Divide and Conquer

The U.N. meets this week to decide whether to play by Taliban rules or pull out. Both are bad.

A worker walks past machinery that crushes rocks at the Mughulkhil chromite mine in Logar province, Afghanistan.
A worker walks past machinery that crushes rocks at the Mughulkhil chromite mine in Logar province, Afghanistan.

China’s Got Afghan Fever, Again

Nothing says forever like the promise of Afghanistan’s mineral riches.

A Taliban security personnel stands guard as Afghan people wait to cross into Pakistan.
A Taliban security personnel stands guard as Afghan people wait to cross into Pakistan.

What Happened to the Taliban’s Pledge to Fight Terrorism?

Washington withdrew from a 20-year fight against terrorism, vowing to maintain over-the-horizon capability. It’s still squinting.

Taliban security personnel stand guard along a street in Afghanistan.
Taliban security personnel stand guard along a street in Afghanistan.

The Taliban Are Back in the Hostage Business

Left in the cold, the extremists are falling back on an old trick of swapping foreigners for favors.

Afghan women wait to receive food aid.
Afghan women wait to receive food aid.

The Taliban Have Turned Afghanistan Into a Graveyard of Women’s Rights

The Taliban are marking International Women’s Day with an ever-worsening cascade of abuses against women.

A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait in a queue during a World Food Program cash distribution in Kabul.
A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait in a queue during a World Food Program cash distribution in Kabul.

How to Deal With the Taliban

Inside the debate over whether the West should engage the regime.

People in black military uniforms stand in formation with guns.
People in black military uniforms stand in formation with guns.

GOP Gears Up for Afghanistan Probe

Congress wants to know what happened to the guns and money the United States left behind.

The Taliban's former envoy to Saudi Arabia arrives for a meeting with foreign diplomats in Doha, Qatar.
The Taliban's former envoy to Saudi Arabia arrives for a meeting with foreign diplomats in Doha, Qatar.

Why Did Saudi Diplomats Leave Kabul?

As the Taliban start to crack, Afghanistan is once again the proxy battleground of terrorists and their backers.

Mahbouba Seraj, a journalist and women's rights activist in Afghanistan.
Mahbouba Seraj, a journalist and women's rights activist in Afghanistan.

A Nobel Nominee’s Controversial Call for Engagement With the Taliban

Mahbouba Seraj, a rights activist and nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, says there’s no choice now but to talk to Afghanistan’s new rulers.

A mural warns of the dangers of heroin use in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Oct. 17, 2022. Lindsey Kennedy for Foreign Policy
A mural warns of the dangers of heroin use in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Oct. 17, 2022. Lindsey Kennedy for Foreign Policy

How the Taliban’s ‘War on Drugs’ Could Backfire

The purported ban on opium and ephedra devastates poor farmers, enriches the Taliban, and has done nothing to curb addiction.

A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait in a queue during a World Food Program cash distribution in Kabul.
A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait in a queue during a World Food Program cash distribution in Kabul.

Taliban ‘Men-Only’ Aid Edict Divides Charity Community

The World Food Program seems poised to carry on, driving NGOs to call it quits on aid.

Afghan boys stand in a queue as they wait to receive food aid from a nongovernmental organization in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Afghan boys stand in a queue as they wait to receive food aid from a nongovernmental organization in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Taliban Are Losing Some of Their Cash Cows

The U.S. and U.N. are halting aid as the Taliban ratchet up their atrocities.

Volunteers label a shipment of humanitarian aid to be sent to Afghanistan at Bahrain International Airport on Muharraq Island on Sept. 4, 2021.
Volunteers label a shipment of humanitarian aid to be sent to Afghanistan at Bahrain International Airport on Muharraq Island on Sept. 4, 2021.

The Taliban Are Abusing Western Aid

Misogyny gets headlines. The pillaging of international aid money goes unnoticed.

Taliban security personnel stands guard at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Taliban security personnel stands guard at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The Taliban Can’t Win Friends or Influence People

Fights with neighbors, terrorism attacks on the group’s few patrons, and concerns over Taliban defections darken Afghanistan’s future.

Fiona Frazer speaks next to Markus Potzel in Kabul.
Fiona Frazer speaks next to Markus Potzel in Kabul.
Afghan money changers calculate at the currency exchange Sarayee Shahzada market in Kabul on June 29, 2015.
Afghan money changers calculate at the currency exchange Sarayee Shahzada market in Kabul on June 29, 2015.

Don’t Release Foreign Reserves to the Taliban

Unfreezing billions of dollars while huge revenues flow to Kabul risks legitimizing an extremist regime.

A man sits behind a glass case full of colorful bills.
A man sits behind a glass case full of colorful bills.

How Afghanistan’s Money Exchangers Have Worked Around the Taliban

They are, increasingly, the only financial link that connects the country to the rest of the world.

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