News of another attack on the infamous Intercontinental hotel in Kabul, resulting of the slaughter of at least 40 – but this number will probably rise as the full extent of the attack will come to light. To anyone involved with Kabul, it’s history repeating itself, as the hotel was attacked back in 2011 with … Read More
As Iraq is pushed closer to chaos by IS/ISIS forces, there is concern that Afghanistan – the other country invaded as a result of the policies undertaken after 9/11 – will follow, as troops from the NATO derivative ISAF, will be pulled out later this year. However before the Afghans can look at the scheduled pull … Read More
Acts of violence need to have a political context in order for them to be officially classified as a terrorist attack, if not their just criminal. However within a conflict or post conflict environment such as Afghanistan, the lines between the differing of categories of attacks can get so blurred that they often cease … Read More
Two Cardiff men have been big news lately, their faces captured on a video enticing other young Muslim men to join in the fight in Syria. Reyaad Khan (20) and his friend Nasser Muthana also 20, have been missing since late last year, and now according to Nasser’s father, his 17-year-old son Aseel is … Read More
Iraq, three years after the withdrawal of Western Coalition forces is falling apart. Is it a straightforward result of Western intervention or is there more? Lets consider the wider context of Iraq, ISIS and the Sunni- Shia Split. As the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) juggernaut gathers pace, it seems that the Iraq … Read More
Charlie Wilson’s War, the 2007 blockbuster in which Tom Hanks plays the flamboyant US Congressman, initiated – with the help of the CIA – what is probably ‘the biggest covert operation in history’. It was called Operation Cyclone, and involved the supply of arms to the beleaguered Afghanistan forces that were facing the Soviet invasion … Read More
With counting reaching the half way mark in the Afghan elections, there appears to be clear a favourite. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – the runner up to President Karzai in the 2009 elections – is way ahead of his nearest rival, the ex warlord and technocrat Ashraf Ghani, with Rassul – the candidate favoured by the … Read More
Afghanistan, ‘The Grave Yard of Empires’, – as it has become known – consists of 34 provinces, the most infamous of which – its name now synonymous with death and destruction – being Helmand. The following is a short account of my involvement there during 2010 – 2011, and is written in respect and admiration … Read More
I heard the explosion. It was muffled, but distinctive. I looked at my watch and noted the time, 19.22hrs on the 18th January. A mile away in central Kabul at La Taverna – a popular Lebanese restaurant – customers were cowering under their tables waiting to be executed by merciless gunmen. La Taverna was a popular ex-pat … Read More
Warning: This blog contains graphic images Jalalabad, Bishud bridge, Eastern Afghanistan, June 2010. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar Province in Eastern Afghanistan. It is 150km to the east of the Kabul and is set at the confluence of two large rivers, the Kabul and Kunar, tributaries of the great Indus river which they meet … Read More
