All articles - Afghanistan

The Intelligence 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 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.

Taliban high command split between Baradar and Haqqani Network supporters

Despite their victory, the Taliban remain internally divided between supporters of their former negotiator in Doha, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and members of the radical Haqqani Network.

Alexander Malkevich and Maxim Shugaley export Kremlin's PR business to Kabul

The two Russian influence specialists are helping Moscow reinforce commmunications channels with the new Taliban leadership in Afghanistan through the Foundation for National Values Protection.

Spotlight
Armed security companies prepare for the start of a new era in Kabul

Along with Iraq, Afghanistan has been an eldorado for armed security companies over the last 20 years. With the departure of American troops on 30 August, that market suddenly dried up. This does not mean, however, that the country will no longer need armed security companies.

DynCorp's string of legal woes continues

Dyncorp's defeats in its legal disputes with the US Army and other clients in Afghanistan have dealt an additional blow to the group, which used to be one of the Pentagon's main contractors.

Doha keeps mediator role despite intelligence failures on Taliban

Qatar, home to the political branch of the Taliban since 2011, is proud of its role as mediator and the international visibility that goes with it. Its intelligence errors on the evolution of the situation in Afghanistan seem not to have dented its determination to remain closely involved.

MTN wants out of Afghan chaos after Syrian blister

The South African telecommunication operator was not ready for the Taliban's lightening takeover and is struggling to balance the need to keep its services running with wanting to avoid making compromises with Kabul's new leaders, fearing potential problems with them as much as in US courts.

After fall of Kabul, Riyadh takes prudent approach to talks with Taliban

Although keen to keep on the US administration's good side, Saudi Arabia wants to prevent Iran having free rein in Afghanistan and has instructed his spymasters to engage in a prudent dialogue with the Taliban, facilitated by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

Ankara maintains Afghan ambitions despite Taliban takeover

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan should have meant Turkey stepping in and taking control of Kabul airport but the Taliban's rapid advance changed all that. However Ankara is maintaining its objectives even if it means talking to Afghanistan's new authorities.