"Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Berlin- and New York-based Counter Extremism Project, doesn’t believe the ban is genuine, let alone long-term. He regards it as an attempt to maximize profits while lulling the international community into recognizing the Taliban. Or it’s a diversification play."

CEP report republished: "The following is the July 2023 instalment of “Afghanistan Terrorism Report.” The authors provide a monthly analysis concerning the developing terrorist threat in Afghanistan as well as a comprehensive overview of that month’s al-Qaeda and ISIS-K propaganda."

"'It's a very, very active terrorist area, where you have al-Qaida under protection of the Taliban, ISKP opposing the Taliban, but the Taliban not being able to really push hard against ISKP, in order not to risk even more defections, and with the Haqqani Network, one of the most powerful factions in the Taliban movement, there are links to ISKP, they have been cooperating until August 2021. And those links have not been totally severed. So there's even inside the Taliban, a disagreement on how to deal with this group,' said Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "Two years ago, the world saw the return of a repressive Taliban regime. The rapid fall of the Afghan government sent shockwaves throughout neighbouring countries and beyond, as the new Taliban powerbrokers in Kabul systematically degraded human rights and afforded protection to a long list of Al-Qaeda linked terrorist groups in Afghanistan."

"Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Berlin-based Counter [Extremism] Project and an expert on Afghanistan, has seen it all before. Last time the Taliban were in power, from 1996-2001, they curtailed poppy production for the 2000-01 season. Heroin prices soared. Then, when the Taliban were pushed out of power after 9/11, they needed cash to fund their insurgency. In an unequivocal demonstration of their control over the drugs trade, they went back into the opium business."