Many have questioned the lessons learned from the 20-year war in Afghanistan following the chaotic withdrawal and subsequent Taliban takeover, but one major accomplishment from the U.S.’s time fighting the Taliban has emerged – the use of Artificial Intelligence to track terrorist attacks. 

In 2019, U.S. and coalition forces began drawing down their troop presence across the country, which left remaining forces strapped when it came to their ability to maintain human intelligence networks used to monitor Taliban movements.

By the end of 2019, the number of Taliban attacks levied at U.S. and coalition forces spiked to levels not seen since the decade prior, prompting security forces in Afghanistan to develop an AI program known as “Raven Sentry.”

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In a report released earlier this year, U.S. Amy Colonel Thomas Spahr, chair of the Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations at the U.S. Army War College, quoted A.J.P. Taylor and said, “War has always been the mother of invention.” Spahr pointed to the development of tanks during World War I, the atomic weapon in World War II and the use of AI to track Open-Source Intelligence as the U.S.’s longest lasting war began to wind down.

Raven Sentry looked to take the load off human analysts by sorting through vast amounts of data that drew from “weather patterns, calendar events, increased activity around mosques or madrassas, and activity around historic staging areas.”

Despite some initial challenges when the technology was first developed, a team of intelligence officers pulled together to form a group dubbed the “nerd locker” to develop a system that could “reliably predict” a terrorist attack. 

“By 2019, the digital ecosystem’s infrastructure had progressed, and advances in sensors and prototype AI tools could detect and rapidly organize these dispersed indicators of insurgent attacks,” Spahr, who was also involved with the program, first reported The Economist.

Taliban fighters escort women march in support of the Taliban government outside Kabul University, Afghanistan.  (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

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Though the AI program was cut short by the withdrawal on Aug. 30, 2021, its success was attributed to a “culture” of tolerance for early failures and technological expertise. 

Spahr said the team developing Raven Sentry “was aware of senior military and political leaders’ concerns about proper oversight and the relationship between humans and algorithms in combat systems.”

He also pointed out that AI testing is “doomed” if leadership does not tolerate experimentation when programs are developing. 

By October 2020, less than a year before the withdrawal, Raven Sentry had reached a 70% accuracy threshold in predicting when and where an attack would likely occur – technology that has proven critical in major wars today, both in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Taliban soldiers stand guard in Panjshir province in the northeast Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021.  (AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan)

 “Advances in generative AI and large language models are increasing AI capabilities, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East demonstrate new advances,” the U.S. Army colonel wrote.

Spahr also said that if the U.S. and its allies want to keep its AI technology competitive, it must “balance the tension between computer speed and human intuition” by educating leaders who remain skeptical of the ever-emerging technology. 

Taliban fighters patrol in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021.  (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Despite the success the AI program saw in Afghanistan, the Army colonel warned that “war is ultimately human, and the adversary will adapt to the most advanced technology, often with simple, common-sense solutions.”

“Just as Iraqi insurgents learned that burning tires in the streets degraded US aircraft optics or as Vietnamese guerrillas dug tunnels to avoid overhead observation, America’s adversaries will learn to trick AI systems and corrupt data inputs,” he added. “The Taliban, after all, prevailed against the United States and NATO’s advanced technology in Afghanistan.”

Several British police officers have been injured as far-right activists clash with anti-racism protesters amid violent demonstrations following the stabbing of multiple children at a dance class in Southport that left three girls dead and several wounded.

On Saturday, Merseyside Police said a number of officers were injured in “serious disorder” in the centre of Liverpool, about 32 kilometres away from the scene of the stabbing attack.

In a series of posts on the social media platform X, the force said there is “no place for this despicable behaviour which disrupts the lives of members of the public who live in the city, or are visiting to enjoy the amenities the city has to offer.”

Humberside Police in a statement said three police officers have been injured and four people arrested following disorder in Hull, a city in the northeast of England. Earlier, windows of a hotel in Hull that is used to house migrants were smashed.

A car and the building next door to a police station were set ablaze, and 12 people were arrested.

Elsewhere, bricks were thrown at police officers in Stoke-on-Trent in central England while scuffles have also been reported in Belfast, Manchester and Nottingham.

There were no reports of far-right marches in London.

Demonstrations are being promoted online over the coming days in towns and cities including Sunderland, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, using phrases including “enough is enough,” “save our kids” and “stop the boats.”

In response, police have mounted a significant security operation, deploying thousands more officers onto the streets, many in riot gear. 

Police have also made more prison cells available and are using surveillance and facial recognition technology.

Britain’s new Labour prime minister Keir Starmer held a crisis meeting with ministers on Saturday, in which he said police have the government’s “full support” to take action against “extremists” attacking officers and attempting to “sow hate,” according to his office in No. 10 Downing Street.

Fuelled by misinformation

Violence erupted after false rumours spread online that the suspect at the centre of the Southport stabbing was a young Muslim man and an immigrant, feeling anger among far-right supporters. 

Hours after the rumours began spreading, violent protesters clashed with police outside a nearby mosque.

Police say the name was fake, as were rumours that the 17-year-old suspect was an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain. 

The suspect charged with murder and attempted murder was named Thursday as Axel Rudakubana, born in the UK to Rwandan parents.

By the time a judge said the teen suspect could be identified, rumours already were rife and right-wing influencers had pinned the blame on immigrants and Muslims.

Suspects under 18 are usually not named in the UK, but Judge Andrew Menary ordered Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales to Rwandan parents, to be identified, in part to stop the spread of misinformation.