Afghanistan Monitor

Geopolitical insights through open-source intel.

[Ahmad Sharifzad @AhmadSharifzad]

During the protests, Taliban militants killed women by direct firings.
This video documents one of the brutal acts of repression carried out by the terrorist militias of the Taliban regime.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

@AimenDean
Funny how protecting national interests becomes manipulation only when Pakistan does it.

Let's accept that hardcore mullas in Iran, Afghanistan or in Pakistan can't go side by side with the modern world.

Way forward: deal with it the hard way or through diplomacy, let's discuss

First, the UAE doesn't have the guts of "escalate to de-escalate" against Iran as we did with the Afghans, Indians and even in 2024 fired missiles at Iran and showed him its boundaries.

TLP, the hardcore mullas in Pakistan, also came to their senses after Field Marshal Asim Munir took charge.

The UAE should learn that Iran's claim of targeting Arabs goes beyond supporting the U.S. or Israel, as Iran's neighbour Azerbaijan has an "oil-for-arms" relationship with Israel (google it further) and Iran cannot add Azerbaijan as its legitimate target due to its military strength and close ties with Turks and Pakistan.

And yes, every country protects its own interests; in this case, we are doing it, but there is a difference: if you can't protect or pursue your interests in the soft way, you must have the guts to do it the hard way if the tables turn around.

Bottom line: after roughly 40 days of Iranian hits, the UAE showed neither a hard response nor a successful soft outcome. So maybe spare us the lectures. Let Pakistan pursue its interests its own way and meanwhile the UAE should prepare properly for the next round and find some resolve against the mullahs if diplomacy fails.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

@AimenDean
Funny how protecting national interests becomes manipulation only when Pakistan does it.

Let's accept that hardcore mullas in Iran, Afghanistan or in Pakistan can't go side by side with the modern world.

Way forward: deal with it the hard way or through diplomacy, let's discuss

First, the UAE doesn't have the guts of "escalate to de-escalate" against Iran as we did with the Afghans, Indians and even in 2024 fired missiles at Iran and showed him its boundaries.

TLP, the hardcore mullas in Pakistan, also came to their senses after Field Marshal Asim Munir took charge.

The UAE should learn that Iran's claim of targeting Arabs goes beyond supporting the U.S. or Israel, as Iran's neighbour Azerbaijan has an "oil-for-arms" relationship with Israel (google it further) and Iran cannot add Azerbaijan as its legitimate target due to its military strength and close ties with Turks and Pakistan.

And yes, every country protects its own interests; in this case, we are doing it, but there is a difference: if you can't protect or pursue your interests in the soft way, you must have the guts to do it the hard way if the tables turn around.

Bottom line: after roughly 40 days of Iranian hits, the UAE showed neither a hard response nor a successful soft outcome. So maybe spare us the lectures. Let Pakistan pursue its interests its own way and meanwhile the UAE should prepare properly for the next round and find some resolve against the mullahs if diplomacy fails.

[Aimen Dean @AimenDean]

If you’re looking for a polite take, this isn’t it.

I’ve said it repeatedly on the Conflicted podcast: Pakistan was never a neutral mediator between Washington and Tehran. Not for a second. What we’re watching now is not diplomacy, it’s pure manipulation dressed up as statecraft.

Let’s call things by their proper names. Under field marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan isn’t some balanced civilian democracy playing honest broker. It’s a military system with a democratic façade, pursuing its own interests with a level of cynicism that should surprise no one who has followed its behavior over the past two decades.

What did they sell to Donald Trump? A fantasy. A pipe dream. That the Islamic Republic can be reasoned with. That it is pragmatic, not ideological. That it is capable of compromise if only you flatter it enough and give it incentives. In short: that you can extract “the deal of the century” from a regime whose entire strategic doctrine is built on resisting precisely that outcome.

And Trump - obsessed with the optics of a deal - bought it.

Meanwhile, senior voices inside Pakistan weren’t even pretending neutrality. A defence minister pushing conspiratorial narratives, blaming the “Zionists,” portraying Iran as a victim, while 6,000 missiles and drones were raining down on GCC states that host millions of Pakistani workers. That alone should have been disqualifying.

If a country is willing to throw its own economic lifeline (the Gulf) under the bus for ideological or tactical alignment with Tehran, what exactly makes anyone think it would safeguard American interests?

And here’s the uncomfortable part: this isn’t new.

We’ve seen this movie before. The United States spent years, treasure, and blood in Afghanistan, only to discover that Osama bin Laden, and his network, were living comfortably in Pakistan all along - while Pakistan was simultaneously cashing in on US counterterrorism billions in funding. They didn’t fail to find the target. They bloody managed it.

Why end the hunt when the hunt itself pays and pays pretty well?

Fast forward to today, and the pattern repeats, only this time the battlefield is Iran. At the very moment the regime was under maximum pressure (militarily strained, economically cornered, strategically exposed) Pakistan steps in, not to mediate, but to buy Tehran time. Time to regroup, breathe, and ultimately survive.

That’s not mediation. That’s intervention - on one side.

From a cold, historical lens, this may well be remembered as the pivot point. The moment when pressure was lifted prematurely. When momentum was lost. When a winnable strategic position was traded for the illusion of a negotiated breakthrough that was never going to materialise, ever!

Five years from now, looking back, this could read like a familiar chapter:
First Afghanistan - undermined from within.
Now Iran - diluted from without.

In both cases, Pakistan didn’t just mislead Washington. It shaped the battlefield to its advantage, all while claiming partnership with a clueless US administration.

And Washington, once again, chose to believe what it wanted to hear.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

🔥 From General Zia-ul-Haq to Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Pakistanis were always intelligent…
now the world is just catching up.

Pakistan Hamesha Zindabad

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Namak harami on full display.

Refuge in Pakistan. Food in Pakistan. Shelter in Pakistan. Then guns against Pakistan. Betrayal does not get clearer than this.

#Afghanistan #Terrorism #NamakHaram

[Mahaz @MahazOfficial1]

Breaking: Among the 08 TTP militants killed in a security forces operation in Datta Khel, North Waziristan on April 1, two have been identified as Afghan nationals who had previously lived in Pakistan as refugees. One of the deceased militants was identified as Abdul Rehman, son of Zar Wali, a resident of Zurmat district in Paktia province, Afghanistan. He had earlier lived in a refugee camp in Pakistan’s Mansehra district.

The second Afghan militant was identified as Amir Hamza Haqyar, son of Abdul Karim, who had been deported from Pakistan to Afghanistan via Chaman Border crossing in 2023.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

I monitor namak haram across the western side, but the truth is we have some sitting comfortably inside the homeland too.

Their so-called leader was a project of the same institution that crushed PML-N and PPP during the Pasha–Faiz era. At that time, they were busy calling the Army Chief “Qaum ka baap” because he was serving PTI’s interests.

When PML-N and PPP workers were dragged into jails, Adiala, the courts, and the whole system were apparently fine. Democracy was only “under attack” once their own turn came.

When the system was crushing others for PTI’s benefit, it was “democracy.” Now that the wheel turned, suddenly it is “fascism.

Hafiz Sahib will be here till 2030, and this internal namak harami will be dealt with too.

Pakistan Hamesha Zindabad.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, is known for its natural beauty and looks nothing like how it was portrayed in the Hollywood series Homeland

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Pakistan has taken control of approx 32 sq km of Afghan territory along the border and has installed new fences.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Everything in Kabul is burned down, but somehow the rehab center signboard and flag are still perfectly intact.

That propaganda team works faster than the fire brigade.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

The Taliban claimed that the Pakistan Army targeted a “drug rehab center” in Kabul.

From the aftermath, it looked more like an ammunition depot and PAF delivered a very strong treatment plan.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

An Afghan citizen reacted to last night’s PAF strikes in Kabul and lashed out at Afghan leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada as follows:

. Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada and his circle are involved in bacha bazi instead of defending their territory.

For those unfamiliar with the term, just Google “Taliban bacha bazi.”

. You defeated the Americans and Canadians, so why the fu** can’t you do it against Pakistan?

In my assessment, this time they faced their teachers/ustads, who know exactly where to hit.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

🔥 Pakistan’s Air Force gave Taliban terrorists in Kabul a fiery reminder that Kabul’s night belonged to someone else.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

🔥 16 Mar 2026: Pakistan's Air Force hit multiple targets in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

🔥 14 Mar, 10:PM

Pakistan Air Force jets are currently over Kandahar, Afghanistan and have targeted a Taliban Special Forces headquarters.

The video shows Afghan Taliban terrorists firing at the jets from the ground.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Ground visuals from Paktia, afghanistan

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

🔥 Pakistan’s Air Force carried out strikes on terrorist camps in Kabul, Khost, Paktia and Kandahar, Afghanistan.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Rubio from one side, PAF from the other. Taliban terrorists are about to witness a full fireworks season

[Secretary Marco Rubio @SecRubio]

Today, I am designating Afghanistan as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. The Taliban continue to use terrorist tactics to seek policy concessions, but it won’t work under this administration. The Taliban must release Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

Pakistan Air Force hit targets in Kandahar, Afghanistan, including police facilities and the 205 Al-Badr Special Forces headquarters.

Ground visuals are awaited.

[Afghanistan Monitor @WarMonitorlive]

3 Mar 2026: Pakistani drones spotted over Khost, Afghanistan. Night hunt continues.