When U.S. President Joe Biden announced in April that the United States would withdraw its military forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the only real question was whether the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that seeks to retake control of the country, would wait until that departure to launch their offensive.
They did not. Taliban forces have moved relentlessly forward, taking control of nearly one-third of Afghanistan’s districts and threatening many more.
Civil war is not Afghanistan’s only danger. The country is also dealing with a massive drought and the COVID-19 outbreak. Food insecurity is on the rise. The resulting instability threatens not only Afghanistan but will spill over and roil its neighbors.