Publications

Afghanistan in Review January 3 – January 25, 2022

January 31, 2022 - ISW Press

Key Takeaway: Uzbek Taliban units revolted, forcibly disarmed local Pashtun Taliban units, and briefly seized control of Maimana, the provincial capital of Faryab Province on January 13. Local Taliban leadership, including the governor and police chief, fled the city while locals reported some shots fired. The revolt occurred shortly after Taliban Deputy Defense Minister Mullah Fazel Mazloom arrested a senior Uzbek Taliban commander, Makhdoom Alem, in Mazar-i-Sharif on January 12. The Taliban central leadership responded quickly to the revolt in Faryab Province by deploying additional reinforcements January 14-16, which appears to have ended the revolt. Makhdoom Alem remains in custody in Kabul. If the Taliban exclude local elites from ethnic minority groups from power, it risks increasing inter-ethnic tensions in Afghanistan, and it may not have enough forces to forcibly stop every revolt.

Afghanistan - Order of Battle

September 19, 2014 - Institute for the Study of War

The Afghanistan ORBAT (in PDF format) describes the location and area of responsibility of all American units in Afghanistan, down to the battalion level, updated as of February 2016..

Afghan Government Will Not Accept Secondary Role in Talks with Taliban

January 6, 2012

On January 3, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid announced his group planned to establish an office in Doha, Qatar to pursue negotiations with the United States and its allies. This potential step toward restarting the peace process in Afghanistan offers an opportunity for domestic and international players to identify...

Afghan Government on Shaky Ground Ahead of Elections

July 31, 2018 - Scott DesMarais

The Trump Administration is attempting to deny jihadists a safe haven in Afghanistan while pursuing a negotiated end to the war there. There is also a brewing political storm surrounding the U.S. partner government in Kabul. Is the U.S. plan for Afghanistan at risk?

Afghan army and police forces must grow much larger

August 18, 2009 - Kimberly Kagan

More U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan in part because there are too few Afghan National Security Forces, and they are not yet effective enough to conduct counterinsurgency missions.

Adhamiyah, Baghdad District

November 12, 2008 - Institute for the Study of War

Addressing the New Era of Deterrence and Warfare: Visualizing the Information Domain – Part III

March 6, 2023 - ISW Press

The Institute for the Study of War and the IBM Center for The Business of Government have launched a three-event series, “Addressing the New Era of Deterrence and Warfare: Visualizing the Information Domain.” This post reflects the third roundtable discussion held in Honolulu with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region in January (see summaries from the first and second roundtables).

This third event convened global leaders from the military, government, academia, and technology sectors to consider how to visualize the information domain, drawing on the context of competing information operations between China, the United States, and allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.

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