CEP reports on the security situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August 2021, focusing on the risks emanating from the country and implications for global terrorism. CEP also monitors online content from affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIS, particularly Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP).
• The Taliban were the first to offer their condolences to the Russian government after the March 22 Moscow attack. The Taliban want to prove to the world that they are “humane and kind” to obtain benefits. The Taliban protect religious minority...
Russia and the Taliban cooperate to fight against ISIS. The two governments are on good terms with each other. ISIS-K attack on Taliban members collecting their salaries at a bank in Kandahar on March 21. The attack is described as killing at least...
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which the Taliban supports, is participating in the Pakistani election. ISIS has encouraged attacks on election facilities and has condemned democracy as blasphemy. ISIS took credit for killing a political candidate in Bajaur...
Criminal punishments handed down by the Taliban do not correspond to religiously mandated punishments. Attacks by unknown individuals have occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The governor of Badakhshan Province allegedly asked local officials to report...
The Taliban defense minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, traveled to attend the Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference. The U.S. operates drones in Afghan airspace. The Taliban allegedly prevented an attack on the Russian embassy...
The Taliban do not enforce religious law and have sought to appease the West. A Taliban member was spotted in Kabul with a large quantity of cash in a clear plastic bag. This incident is portrayed as an example of corruption. Weapons stockpiles...
A Hazara leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria targeting Iranian proxy groups. The U.S. and the Taliban are cooperating in the fight against terrorism. The Iranian ambassador and special representative to Afghanistan said on Iranian...
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Counter Extremism Project's ARCHER at House 88 presents a landmark concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps, performed in defiance of resurgent antisemitism. Curated with world renowned composer, conductor, and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, the program restores classical, folk, and popular works, many written on scraps of paper or recalled from memory, to public consciousness. Featuring world and U.S. premieres from Lotoro's archive, this concert honors a repertoire that endured against unimaginable evil.