The Taliban and non-state actors in Afghanistan
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will take evidence from experts on armed groups in Afghanistan.
The Committee will ask about the current influence of the Taliban and other non-state actors including warlords and militias in Afghanistan, their preferred outcomes in the ongoing peace-talks and whether the Taliban has changed since 2001.
Meeting details
At 10:00am: Oral evidence
Inquiry
The UK and Afghanistan
Research Professor at Chr Michelsen Institute
Non-Resident Fellow at Global Public Policy Institute Berlin
At 11:01am: Oral evidence
Inquiry
The UK and Afghanistan
Senior Analyst, Afghanistan at International Crisis Group
Co-Director, Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at Overseas Development Institute
Possible questions
- What is your assessment of the Taliban’s internal structure? Is it a centralised group, or a loose alliance of smaller groups?
- What is your assessment of the Taliban’s connections to other insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network and others?
- What is your assessment of the Taliban’s relations with Afghanistan’s neighbours, and other countries including the Gulf states? To what extent is the Taliban responsive to external pressure?
- What are the interests of those non-state actors which support the Afghan government in the ongoing peace talks?
- What does the Taliban want to achieve in the talks with the Afghan government? What outcome would it consider as a success?
- What is the role of other countries in supporting non-state actors in Afghanistan? Do other countries actively support these groups, and in what way?