Somewhere in Afghanistan
The Taliban once again control a large area of Afghanistan, Mullah Omar boasted on an audiotape broadcast this week. “Losing the capital of Afghanistan does not mean the Taliban have finished,” said the movement’s fugitive leader. The tape was reportedly recorded at a recent military council in southern Afghanistan. More than 600 people have died in renewed fighting since April, including 150 insurgents killed last week. Foreign military and civilian officials have been losing faith in President Hamid Karzai, The Washington Post reported this week. “Nearly five years on, there is no rule of law,” said one Western diplomat. “The Afghans know it is all a charade.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
Atoms into gold: alchemy's modern resurgenceUnder the radar The practice of alchemy has been attempted for thousands of years
-
Sudoku hard: August 19, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
