Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan Please submit all media inquiries to media@crisisgroup.org or call +32 (0) 2 536 00 71 Crisis Group Role Borhan Osman is Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Afghanistan. He is a leading expert on the militant networks operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and has researched the Afghan conflict since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Borhan has written extensively about the Taliban insurgency and militant groups in Afghanistan, including Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K). Areas of Expertise The conflict in Afghanistan Insurgency, terrorism and militant networks Peace dialogue and reconciliation Religious extremism and radicalisation Salafi-jihadism Professional Background Before joining Crisis Group, Borhan worked as a researcher/analyst for over five years at the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN). Before that, he worked with different national and international media organisations in Kabul. His research and reporting has mostly been based on fieldwork across Afghanistan. He holds an MA degree from the Freie Universität of Berlin on Islamic intellectual history. Languages Pashto (native) Dari (native) English (fluent) Arabic (fluent) Turkish (intermediate) Urdu (basic) French (basic) In The News 1 Aug 2018 Attacking lightly defended targets has been part of [the Islamic State's] modus operandi from the outset. AFP Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan 11 Jun 2018 This mutual [Afghan] ceasefire, if successful, can possibly inspire or encourage future, more substantial steps towards peacemaking. Fighting has been the integral feature that has characterized the Taliban since the movement was born. A break from it, although very brief, represents an important departure from its modus operandi. AFP Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan 8 Feb 2018 The U.S. and Afghan governments are unleashing more violence based on the same rationale that it would tilt this stalemate to favor their conditions at the table. Reuters Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan 30 Jan 2018 Increasing pressure on [Kabul's] battlefield may lead [the Taliban and IS] to hit back in an area where they can publicly disprove the rhetoric of the U.S. military or Afghan government. AFP Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan 30 Jan 2018 [High-profile Taliban attacks in Kabul are] an attempt to disprove statements by U.S. and Afghan officials that the Taliban are weakened. NBC Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan 16 Jan 2018 U.S. strategy [in Afghanistan] is so military-centric. Even 100,000 troops couldn’t finish the Taliban, and ever since those days, they have been zealously confident. The Washington Post Borhan Osman Senior Analyst, Afghanistan Latest Updates Q&A / Asia 29 January 2019 Interpreting the U.S. Talks with the Taliban Talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha have raised hopes that the U.S. could end its involvement in Afghanistan’s war. Our Asia Program Director Laurel Miller and Afghanistan analysts Borhan Osman and Graeme Smith break down what was achieved and what remains unresolved. Commentary / Asia 5 September 2018 As New U.S. Envoy Appointed, Turbulent Afghanistan’s Hopes of Peace Persist The new U.S. adviser on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has a tough assignment: fostering peace between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Crisis Group’s Borhan Osman says that recent violence has soured the public mood, but that leaders on all sides still appear committed – at least rhetorically – to peace talks. Op-Ed / Asia 19 March 2018 The U.S. Needs to Talk to the Taliban in Afghanistan Originally published in The New York Times Commentary / Asia 7 February 2018 The Cost of Escalating Violence in Afghanistan Taliban attacks in Kabul in late January 2018 are part of an escalation in violence in Afghanistan, where the civilian population is bearing the brunt of a particularly intense winter of fighting. Also available in 简体中文 Commentary / Asia 11 December 2017 U.S. Bombing of Afghan Drug Labs Won't Crush the Taliban U.S. aerial bombing of drug laboratories in Afghanistan will solve neither the country’s Taliban insurgency nor its drugs problem.