The security threat of a Taliban-run Afghanistan

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Today marks a year since the fall of Kabul – an event that completed the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan amid a messy American withdrawal of troops. The hard-line Islamist group had promised that its return to power would not mean terrorists would be given safe haven in the country, as they had during an earlier spell of Taliban power.

But, as counterterrorism experts Amira Jadoon of Clemson University and George Washington University’s Andrew Mines note, the notion that the Taliban could be trusted to follow through on such promises has “only grown more absurd” as the months have progressed. The fact that, until his death at the hands of a recent U.S. drone strike, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri had been sheltering in Kabul – presumedly with the knowledge of at least some high-ranking government officials – only underscores that point.

Meanwhile, in spite of that successful operation, questions remain over whether the United States’ counterterrorism strategy can effectively deal with the terrorist threats emerging from Afghanistan.

Also today:

Matt Williams

Senior Breaking News and International Editor

The Taliban’s success in taking control in Afghanistan has encouraged other militant groups. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)

A year after the fall of Kabul, Taliban’s false commitments on terrorism have been fully exposed

Andrew Mines, George Washington University; Amira Jadoon, Clemson University

The Taliban promised not to allow Afghanistan to be used by groups seeking to attack the US, yet terrorist groups have only become more emboldened under its rule.

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