Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy in Brief

U.S. Naval Institute ^ | December 1, 2022 | Congressional Research Service

[Retain Mike]

The Taliban have not reached beyond their own ranks to fill government positions and are reportedly staffing ministries with military and/or religious figures with little relevant experience, exacerbating the group’s administrative challenges and some internal tensions.

The Taliban’s victory may provide a morale and perhaps material boost to Pakistan- based Islamist terrorist groups, including the so-called Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-i Taliban-i Pakistan, or TTP, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization). TTP attacks against Pakistani security forces increased after August 2021, reportedly prompting the Pakistani government to seek the Afghan Taliban’s mediation of several ceasefires, which appear to have broken down in late 2022.26 Afghanistan-Pakistan relations are further complicated by the presence of over 1 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan

[Retain Mike]

This is probably the best current resource available. I wonder if Congress ever reads any of their stuff?

The big dream for Al Qaeda through the Taliban has always been Pakistan and the bomb.

[BenLurkin]

[PGR88]

Suddenly, the “war on terror” has simply disappeared from the MSM and public discourse, coincident with US bugging out of Af-Pak.

Now it seems to be a war on “domestic extremists.”

Makes sense. Its a logical progression towards an intended goal.

[sauropod]

Bkmk