The Afghanistan war

With Trump’s backing, Pakistan wages “open war” on Afghanistan

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 02:10:17 GMT

Military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued for a fifth day Tuesday, in a conflict with potentially major implications for South Asian and world geopolitics.

New Zealand politicians express outrage over Trump’s Afghanistan accusations

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 01:25:04 GMT

Glorifying New Zealand’s role in the 20-year Afghanistan occupation, Labour Party figures are seeking to steer widespread opposition to the government and Trump in a right-wing, “patriotic” and militarist direction.

UK inquiry told special forces had “deliberate policy” to “kill fighting-aged males” in Afghanistan

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:04:24 GMT

N1466 is the highest-ranking former special forces officer to provide evidence of war crimes. He was the assistant chief of staff for operations in UKSF headquarters.

Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to shaky truce after week of clashes

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 01:21:09 GMT

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a shaky truce last weekend in talks mediated by Qatar and Turkey after more than a week of military clashes, in which scores and likely hundreds died.

UK special forces rejected 2,000 Afghan asylum claims to conceal war crimes

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 19:00:19 GMT

It was first revealed last year by the BBC’s Panorama documentary series that UK Special Forces command had been given veto power over the resettlement applications of Afghan commandos and exercised it to deny them asylum in Britain.

Further evidence of UK special forces war crimes in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 18:00:48 GMT

Only the inquiry team and representatives from the Ministry of Defence have been allowed to attend the closed hearings, preventing the lawyers for the bereaved families, the general public, and the press from observing the proceedings.

Pakistan uses “anti-terrorism” law to ban Pashtun group protesting military’s manifold crimes

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 00:58:14 GMT

For more than two decades, the security forces of the Pakistani state and their US allies have run amok in the name of suppressing the Pakistan Taliban, levelling entire villages and wantonly violating human rights.

Australian anti-war whistleblower David McBride passes one hundred days behind bars

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:35:26 GMT

The militarist Labor government is directly responsible for the imprisonment of the courageous whistleblower and the draconian conditions in which he is being held.

UK minister told to name sources in Afghan war crimes inquiry or face jail

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:54:25 GMT

Mercer also told the inquiry he had gradually become aware of the SAS allegations on his last tour of Afghanistan in 2010 and then been given two specific warning by former colleagues—one a senior officer—in 2017 after he had become an MP.

Defend David McBride! Australian government proceeding with trial of Afghan war crimes whistleblower

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 04:59:33 GMT

The first person facing trial over Australia’s confirmed war crimes in Afghanistan is one of the individuals who exposed them.

Pakistan mounting campaign of state harassment and intimidation to expel 1.7 million Afghan refugees

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 02:28:27 GMT

Even before the passing of the official deadline to “voluntarily” leave Pakistan, Afghans who sought refuge in Pakistan from the social catastrophe caused by decades of imperialist-fomented war and neocolonial occupation have been the target of a vicious campaign of state harassment and intimidation.

Ministry of Defence confirms war crimes inquiry into UK Special Forces deployed to Afghanistan

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 19:20:42 GMT

The inquiry follows years of reporting of alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan by the SAS.

Why hasn’t alleged Australian war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith been charged?

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 04:42:08 GMT

While prosecuting whistleblowers who exposed war crimes with zeal, Australian authorities are refusing to charge those credibly accused of murdering Afghan civilians.

Court finds Australian “war hero” is a war criminal who murdered Afghan civilians

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 04:29:44 GMT

The war crimes, by Ben Roberts-Smith and others, flowed directly from the character of the war as a neo-colonial occupation aimed at subjugating an entire population.

US wars since 2001 have killed 4.5 million people

Fri, 19 May 2023 02:20:05 GMT

A succession of US presidents, Democratic and Republican, share responsibility for the worst crimes of the 21st century.

Britain uses “aid” to Afghanistan as a cover for imperialist domination

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 19:15:09 GMT

Far from providing humanitarian aid and relief in the aftermath of the NATO-led war and occupation, these financial flows served the imperialist powers’ geostrategic and military agenda.

Biden orders drone assassination of al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 04:27:24 GMT

Biden made it clear that the assassination of al-Zawahiri was a warning to anyone deemed an enemy by the US government, saying, “the United States will find you and take you out.”

BBC’s Panorama exposes British war crimes in Afghanistan

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 19:27:15 GMT

The airing of SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime? comes at a sensitive time amid furious claims by Britain that Russia’s armed forces have committed multiple war crimes in Ukraine.

US steals billions in Afghan bank funds

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 05:17:56 GMT

The decision to seize $7 billion in central bank funds will further undermine the economy of Afghanistan under conditions of mass starvation.

Washington strangles Afghanistan’s economy as millions face starvation

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 01:10:16 GMT

In an act of raw revenge for the debacle of its 20-year war, the US is denying Afghanistan access to its own financial reserves, threatening an economic and social collapse.

In the footsteps of the Wehrmacht: German ruling elite organises “Zapfenstreich” march to commemorate Afghanistan debacle

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 23:19:12 GMT

The political and military elites spent almost the entire day publicly paying tribute to the German army’s 20 years of service and glorifying war, combat and soldierhood as if the German crimes in two world wars never occurred.

What price an Afghan life? Report lists hundreds of civilians killed by UK in Afghanistan

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 21:30:37 GMT

The British government frequently reports that 457 British soldiers lost their lives and 616 soldiers suffered serious or very serious injuries but has failed to estimate of the overall harm caused by British operations in its largest deployment since World War II.

Congressional Armed Services committee hearings skirt January 6 coup attempt

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 04:14:32 GMT

In the first public hearings in which Gen. Mark Milley has testified under oath since the publication of books detailing his fears that Trump would stage a fascistic coup, both Democrats and Republicans skirted the issue.

Twenty years of the “war on terrorism” in Australia: War crimes and police-state measures

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 02:32:42 GMT

The Australian government was the first in the world to offer unconditional support to the Bush administration’s plans to exploit the 9/11 attack to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.

Turning Point: 9/11 And The War On Terror—An account of the terror attacks and their aftermath

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 02:26:28 GMT

9/11 has become the subject for numerous novels, films and television series. A number have effectively described the character of the events and their psychological impact, few have shed much light on their source and larger implications.

Pentagon admits Kabul drone strike targeted innocent civilians

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 02:52:14 GMT

General Frank McKenzie admitted in a US Department of Defense press conference on Friday that the deadly drone strike in Kabul on August 29 had killed “10 civilians including up to seven children.”

IYSSE (Sri Lanka) meeting discusses US debacle in Afghanistan

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 04:44:46 GMT

Students from almost all of Sri Lanka’s universities participated in the event, indicating that young people are seeking a serious analysis of crucial international developments.

September 11, the “war on terror” and the criminalization of American politics

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 04:40:04 GMT

The White House and media have rolled out the red carpet for the war criminals of the Bush administration, showing that the criminality of the “war on terror” has permanently entered the bloodstream of American politics.

Kabul drone strike was CIA-military murder

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 03:01:45 GMT

A New York Times report demonstrates the reality, not merely of the August 29 drone strike in the Afghan capital, but of thousands of such strikes over the past 15 years.

20 years since 9/11 and the “war on terror”

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 03:18:44 GMT

The 20th anniversary of 9/11 coincides with the shattering debacle of the US “global war on terrorism”, which was launched on the pretext of retaliation for the attacks of that day.

After the Afghanistan debacle: When will the other shoe drop?

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 23:22:54 GMT

The rise of US militarism and the growth of financial parasitism to record heights are, as their history shows, part of an interconnected process.

In wake of Afghan defeat, UK pseudo-lefts help Tory government prepare its contingency plans

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 23:31:17 GMT

In line with the Stop the War Coalition’s entreaties, Corbyn was aiding the Tories craft contingency plans to preserve the credibility of British imperialism.

Canadian imperialism shaken by US debacle in Afghanistan

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 05:00:27 GMT

Outside Washington and Wall Street, the collapse of the Kabul regime has arguably dealt no imperialist ruling elite a bigger blow than Canada’s.

After the Afghanistan debacle, Berlin and Brussels pursue independent European war policy

Sat, 04 Sep 2021 03:13:35 GMT

At an informal meeting in Kranj, Slovenia, EU defence ministers on Thursday discussed the establishment of a rapid reaction force that could also act independently of the US military.

EU plans detention camps for Afghan refugees across Central Asia

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 05:19:06 GMT

While posturing as concerned for Afghans’ human rights, the EU is spending vast sums to keep them from traveling to Europe and instead housing them in prison camps.

After two decades of imperialist occupation, Afghanistan faces a “humanitarian catastrophe”

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:15:08 GMT

In all the saturation coverage by the mainstream media of the evacuation of foreign nationals and Afghans associated with the US and its allies, little has been said about the economic and social devastation wrought on the country itself.

Biden’s speech on Afghanistan: An admission of a shattering defeat

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 04:24:09 GMT

Biden’s speech included statements never before heard from the White House, acknowledging the devastating costs of a war that ended in a humiliating debacle.

US pulls last of its troops from Afghanistan after chaotic evacuation

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 04:42:28 GMT

The withdrawal was preceded by the drone massacre of an entire Afghan family, the last in a long series of atrocities carried out by the US military in its 20-year neocolonial war.

US evacuation from Afghanistan nears its end

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 02:50:33 GMT

The bulk of those remaining to be evacuated are the American soldiers who were dispatched to the Kabul airport by President Biden two weeks ago.

Death toll in Kabul airport terrorist attack rises to 170, as US military continues evacuations

Sat, 28 Aug 2021 05:00:15 GMT

The extent to which Washington is dependent on coordinating and cooperating with the Taliban in the final stages of its withdrawal underscores the scale of the debacle suffered by US imperialism with the collapse of its puppet regime in Kabul.

Germany’s Left Party approves military mission in Afghanistan

Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:03:23 GMT

One month before the federal elections, the Left Party is swinging towards open support for imperialist military operations by the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces). The party is responding to the growing opposition to German militarism in light of the debacle in Afghanistan.

New Zealand pseudo-lefts cover their tracks over Afghan war

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 22:20:35 GMT

In 2001 New Zealand’s entire petty bourgeois “left” fraternity played the critical role in moving to derail opposition to the Labour government’s entry into the criminal Afghan war.

Terror bombs, gunfire kill at least 72 in Afghanistan capital

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:48:49 GMT

The coordinated attacks on a gate at the Kabul airport and at a nearby hotel killed and wounded at least 200 Afghan civilians and 27 US Marines.

After the Afghanistan debacle: German media and parliamentary parties on course for war

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 00:42:01 GMT

Faced with a disaster in Afghanistan and broad opposition to militarism, all parties represented in the German parliament are moving closer together. The Left Party supports a war mission for the first time.

US State Department admits few Americans remain to be evacuated from Afghanistan

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 02:13:15 GMT

The statement from the State Department undermines one of the principal pillars of the media campaign for a more aggressive US military intervention at the Kabul airport.

G-7 holds emergency summit as US withdrawal from Afghanistan accelerates

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 04:32:22 GMT

The Taliban warned that if Washington violates its pledge to leave the Kabul airport by August 31, they could attack US forces who remain surrounded there.

Afghan refugees face steel border walls and barbed wire from Europe’s powers

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:34:06 GMT

Europe’s governments, since the fall of the Taliban, have so far refused to take more than a few thousand Afghan refugees.

Interview with David North on the debacle in Afghanistan and the fight against militarism

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:02:56 GMT

The lead candidate of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party), Christoph Vandreier, speaks with WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North about the debacle in Afghanistan and what it means for the fight against militarism.

Afghanistan recriminations, cover up and calls for anti-China offensive in Australia

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 02:14:37 GMT

The shock provided by the ignominious collapse of the US puppet regime in Kabul is particularly profound for Australia’s capitalist elite.

What’s behind the calls by the German Left Party and the Greens to support local Afghan forces?

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 22:39:48 GMT

The reaction of Germany’s main parties to the fall of the imperialist puppet regime in Kabul underlines once again that voters have no real political choice in the federal election due to take place on September 26 .