All articles - Afghanistan

The Agencies' Gazette
Syrian chemical programme, UK's Economic Crime Committee, Swedish StratCom at NATO, Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, Skopje and NATO, PLA in Taiwan

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community from London to Stockholm, via Kabul and Skopje.

France/SyriaFrench company Smart Pegasus remains under sanctions for participating in Syrian chemical weapons program.

United KingdomOpposition MP's push parliamentary Economic Crime Committee project.

Sweden/LatviaSwedish anti-fake news agency shines at NATO's StratCom.

Pakistan/AfghanistanISI investigates attempted assassination of Pakistani ambassador in Kabul.

North MacedoniaSkopje intelligence chief learns the rope at NATO.

ChinaPeople's Liberation Army tests modern urban warfare techniques to hone Taiwan strategy.

The Agencies' Gazette
CIA's HR woes, Hamas and Taliban in Istanbul, Tbilisi's oligarchs, France's DPR, China worries Russia, repatriated Afghans

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we hone in on Istanbul, Washington, Paris, Moscow, Kabul and Tbilisi.

United States CIA experimenting to solve HR crisis

Turkey/Palestine/Afghanistan Istanbul hosts Hamas-Taliban rapprochement

Georgia Tbilisi looks into its oligarchs

France DPR still not entitled to know about operations in progress

Russia Moscow's foreign affairs ministry reassesses view of China

Afghanistan/Europe Europe's greater numbers of repatriated Afghans

The Agencies' Gazette
CIA and Taliban, UK geospatial intel, Russian control centre in Ukraine, Serbian BIA

Appointments, reforms and key issues: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets of news, big and small, from the global intelligence community. This week we hone in on Doha, Baghdad, London and Moscow.

United States/AfghanistanIslamabad and Doha aid CIA-Taliban meeting.

United KingdomIntelligence issues in British space strategy.

RussiaIntelligence services at heart of new Ukraine coordination council.

SerbiaVucic blends geopolitics with internal security.

Opcit Research to serve as UN terrorism look-out in Afghanistan

With high-level diplomatic meetings in full swing in Central Asia, and Afghanistan one of the main subjects of discussion, the UN has called in one of its regular contractors to help it gain a better understanding of the area.

French foreign ministry puts Afghanistan on hold

The French foreign ministry's team responsible for Afghanistan has been dismantled. For the moment no one has been appointed to replace outgoing ambassador David Martinon.

French security company Amarante strengthens its EU support team in Afghanistan

Brussels, which is determined to reinforce its diplomatic representation in Kabul, plans to increase the number of staff it employs there, relying on French company Amarante International to provide the necessary protection.

Haqqani Network threatens to break away from main Taliban movement with Pakistani backing

Showing unprecedented pragmatism, the Haqqani Network has criticised the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan for their religious radicality and is increasingly looking to take an independent line from the rest of the movement.

Central Asian spymasters want to return Russia's focus to Afghanistan

Silovik chief Nikolai Patrushev is still taking part in discussion forums run by Central Asia's intelligence chiefs worried about the Taliban security risk. But with all their efforts focused on the war in Ukraine, Russia's armed forces have been forced to gradually disengage from that part of the world.

The Agencies' Gazette
Afghan planes in Tashkent, Russian military engineers decorated, DNI

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, we serve up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we go from Paris to Tashkent, Washington, Brussels and Kabul.

Uzbekistan/AfghanistanTashkent refuses to return Afghan planes to Kabul.

RussiaMoscow decorates military engineers.

FranceMarc Burg lures more top spies to his degree course.

ParisSenators call for a law on facial recognition.

United StatesDNI tasked again to tackle China's support to Russia.

EuropeEuropol, future watchdog of foreign investment in the EU.

Taliban out of favour with Islamabad over worsening security situation

A worsening security situation, the rise of the local branch of Islamic State and a cooling of support from Pakistan are just some of the difficulties facing Afghanistan's increasingly divided Taliban.

Guoanbu calls on ISI to cooperate with Taliban secret services

Concerned by the security situation in Afghanistan, China has spoken with the Taliban in order to secure its interests, all with the help of Pakistani spymasters.

Taliban seek funds to finance new army

Still persona non grata in international politics, the Taliban are hoping to negotiate their first contracts with the West and shed sanctions paralysing their ambitions in Afghanistan. The Biden administration does not, for the moment, have any plans to shift its position.

Triple Canopy's phantom Ugandan legion comes back to haunt Constellis

The Constellis subsidiary went to Uganda to hire cheap labour to operate its Pentagon security contract at the Shorab base in Afghanistan.

Riyadh renews contact with Taliban via Pakistani intelligence

Saudi Arabia, which is keen to find a new role for itself in Afghanistan, has contacted Pakistan's omnipresent Inter-Services Intelligence, which is already engaged in helping rebuild the Taliban army. Riyadh sees Afghanistan as offering a new opportunity to counter the activities of its rival, Iran, which is watching the new Saudi-Pakistani partnership uneasily.

TM4 provides key to Afghan security contracts under Taliban

Headed by the former governor of Kunduz, TM4 is fast establishing itself as the go-to partner for Western private security firms, being one of the few local outfits to have kept its licence to operate under the Taliban.

Amarante goes back to Kabul to protect European diplomats

The French private security firm Amarante International is back in the Afghan capital accompanying European diplomats as they gradually return to the Taliban-held city.

ISI concerned about alliance between Islamic State in Khorasan and Pakistan's Taliban

Despite the proximity between Islamabad's intelligence community and Kabul's new rulers, the strengthening of the Pakistani component of the Taliban, allied with Islamic State in Khorasan, is not to the liking of Pakistan's ISI spymasters.

India's intelligence service RAW deployed in bid to influence Afghan affairs

In a new strategy on Afghanistan that keeps India's opposition to Islamabad very much to the forefront, New Delhi has instructed its external intelligence service, the RAW, to corral anti-Taliban forces.