 As the Taliban regime was collapsing, Al Jazeera's presence in Kabul was threatened by problems including US fire, and concerns from journalists and diplomats that the then bureau chief and correspondent, Tayseer Allouni had become compromised as a partisan of the Taliban cause.Khanfar was brought in to replace Allouni as Kabul bureau chief and restored working relations with the new authorities.During the Iraq war, Khanfar reported from Kurdish-controlled territory in the north, and after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime, he became Al Jazeera bureau chief in Baghdad.