An Assessment of the Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan (2001-2018)

Abstract

Since 2009, Afghan security forces and their international allies have been faced with a powerful insurgency which poses a serious threat to the security and stability of Afghanistan. One of the challenges of this insurgency is the fact that the image of who the insurgents are seems to be blurred. This is to some extent justified by the fact that due to Afghanistan’s geography and demography, the nature of the insurgency can vary greatly from one region to the next, or even from one village to the other. On the other hand, few would describe the insurgency in Afghanistan as merely a collection of small, locally based militias with no overall leadership or direction. However, when reading insurgents’ own statements and publications, we see that the militants have definite ideas of who they are and how they relate to other actors on the scene. Therefore, the Taliban’s definition of themselves may at times differ considerably from the mass media’s often ambiguous use of the label “Taliban.” This paper seeks to investigate the current situation of Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. As the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) presence decreases, the onus will shift to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to secure the country and continue the fight against the insurgents still battling the Afghan government. Moreover, because it is a key regional actor, the actions of Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) will be critical to the end game of the conflict and future direction of Afghanistan. The paper therefore seeks to ascertain how these two outfits can carry out their tasks and ensure security for the people of Afghanistan.