5 years after the Doha Accord, Taliban’s unfulfilled guarantees now threaten regional stability, international safety
When the US and Taliban signed Doha Accord on 29 February 2020, the world was promised an finish to the decades-long warfare. The accord had two central pillars: institution of an inclusive Afghan authorities via intra-Afghan dialogue and a agency Taliban dedication to stop Afghan soil from getting used in opposition to different states. These weren’t symbolic gestures however written undertakings meant to safe Afghanistan’s reintegration into worldwide order.
5 years later, these guarantees stand damaged. Afghan Taliban have gained diplomatic legitimacy, political concessions and substantial monetary advantages from worldwide group, but they’ve didn’t honour core phrases of the settlement in Doha and subsequent commitments, together with 2024 Trilateral Accord with Pakistan and the UAE.
First pillar of Doha Accord required Taliban to interact in dialogue with different Afghan factions to kind an inclusive authorities. To construct confidence, 5,000 Taliban prisoners had been launched on situation they resign militancy and again a political settlement. As an alternative, nearly all of them returned to fight. Fairly than partaking with the Ashraf Ghani administration in an intra-Afghan dialogue, Taliban intensified their insurgency and seized Kabul in August 2021, only a 12 months and a half after Doha Accord and imposed a authorities dominated by their militant management.
That authorities stays deeply exclusionary. Afghanistan’s 14 recognised ethnic teams, together with Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Uzbek 9%, Hazara 8%, are barely represented in a 49-member cupboard. The nation’s inhabitants is roughly 89% Sunni and 11% Shia, but Taliban have fully excluded Shia and different sectarian minorities from governance.
Based on UN and regional assessments, Pashtuns maintain practically 90% of all key positions, whereas Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras mixed occupy lower than 10%. Solely two Tajiks, two Uzbeks, two Baloch and one Nuristani maintain minor portfolios, whereas all key ministries are monopolised by Pashtuns. Your complete authorities includes figures linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA). Kandahar Shura, which shapes ideological and political route, consists completely of Pashtuns. Furthermore, ladies have been nearly fully erased from public life, barred from training and employment. These regressive insurance policies defy the spirit of inclusivity promised in Doha Accord.
The second pillar, prohibiting Afghan territory from getting used to threaten different states, has additionally been willfully violated. The killing of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in August 2022, a 12 months after the Taliban’s return, uncovered their duplicity. Likewise, former CIA Al-Qaeda case officer Sarah Adams has publicly confirmed that Saif al-Adl and Hamza bin Laden stay in Kabul beneath Taliban safety. Equally, the thirty fifth and thirty sixth UN Monitoring Group studies confirmed Al-Qaeda’s reorganisation in Afghanistan and documented Taliban’s Common Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) offering secure homes, motion passes and weapon permits to TTP and Al-Qaeda operatives.
The studies additional revealed that TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud receives a month-to-month stipend of $43,000 from the Taliban intelligence equipment to maintain TTP fighters and preserve sanctuaries in Afghanistan. The 66th SIGAR Report (January 2025) confirmed 6,000 to six,500 TTP fighters and senior Al-Qaeda leaders working from Afghanistan whereas the 68th Report (July 2025) discovered Taliban offering secure havens to ISIS-Khorasan, TTP and Al-Qaeda alike.
Inside Afghanistan, repression has intensified. UNAMA’s 2024 Media Freedom Report paints a bleak image, documenting 256 arbitrary arrests of journalists, 130 circumstances of torture and 75 incidents of threats and intimidation. These usually are not remoted incidents however clear proof of a deliberate marketing campaign to silence dissent and management nationwide narrative, a regime sustained by concern slightly than illustration.
Regionally, Taliban duplicity extends to Pakistan and the UAE. Beneath 2024 Trilateral Settlement, the Taliban regime pledged to relocate TTP militants away from Pakistan’s border and forestall cross-border assaults. They accepted funds from the UAE however relocated only some hundred fighters, didn’t share verification lists and allowed TTP parts to proceed working freely.
Regardless of receiving practically $80 million per thirty days from the US and appreciable help from UN businesses, Taliban haven’t modified course. Stories point out that giant parts of donor help are being diverted to TTP-linked networks beneath guise of refugee and humanitarian help.
The prices for Pakistan have been extreme. Between April and September 2025, Pakistani safety forces neutralised 135 Afghan nationals engaged in terrorism throughout Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In whole, 267 Afghan nationals have been recognized amongst these killed in counterterrorism operations thus far. In main engagements such because the April 25-26 clashes in North Waziristan and the August 7 operation in Zhob, dozens of Afghan terrorists had been eradicated, after which the Taliban regime made an unprecedented request to retrieve their our bodies – a uncommon admission of Afghan involvement in terrorism inside Pakistan.
Pakistan has additionally shared credible proof of 58 terrorist camps, staging posts and secure homes run by TTP and BLA operatives inside Afghanistan with the Kabul regime’s information. NATO weaponry value $7 billion, left behind in the course of the US withdrawal, has reached these teams considerably enhancing their fight capability.
Regardless of these provocations, Pakistan has pursued diplomacy with restraint. Since 2021, it has undertaken 4 International Minister-level visits, two Defence Minister and DG ISI-led missions, 5 Particular Consultant visits and over 225 border flag conferences. Islamabad has issued 836 protest notes and 13 demarches, reflecting sustained goodwill and a dedication to regional stability.
But endurance has limits. Taliban proceed to interpret engagement with out accountability as weak spot. The worldwide group should now maintain Afghan Taliban accountable for guarantees made in Doha and elsewhere. Humanitarian help should proceed however beneath strict monitoring to stop diversion to militants. Recognition and monetary reduction ought to be contingent upon verifiable progress, together with formation of an inclusive authorities, dismantling of terrorist networks and restoration of girls’s rights.
The selection earlier than the world is obvious: implement Doha commitments or allow one other cycle of instability. Taliban’s damaged guarantees usually are not simply Afghanistan’s burden however a regional and international safety risk. Holding them accountable isn’t about isolating Afghanistan however about preserving credibility of worldwide agreements.
