Archive for September, 2020

Afghan government to start talks with Taliban, raising hopes for peace after decades of war

From 2009 to last year, more than 100,000 civilians were killed or injured in the war-torn nation, according to United Nations estimates.

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India and China agree on de-escalation plan, say border standoff ‘not in the interest of either side’

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Foreign Ministers in Moscow, Russia, on September 10, 2020.

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Intra-Afghan Negotiations Set to Begin

What took so long? The U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in Doha, Qatar on 29 February specified that peace talks among the Afghan parties to the conflict would begin on 10 March. After months of delay, these intra-Afghan talks are finally set to commence, also in Doha, on 12 September.

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Conflict trends

China-India Military tensions persisted between India and China amid an ongoing Himalayan border dispute that led to the death of at least twenty Indian troops and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers in June. This week both sides accused each other of firing warning shots in Ladakh’s Pangong Lake area, which if confirmed would mark the first use of firearms […]

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Why Did The Taliban Appoint A Hard-line Chief Negotiator For Intra-Afghan Talks?

Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai spent years lying low in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban leadership has been based since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the extremist group from power in neighboring Afghanistan.

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Rafale aircraft formally inducted into Indian Air Force in the presence of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Ms Florence Parly, Ministere of Armed Forces of France;

Rafale Fighter Air craft has been formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) today at a formal function at Air Force Station, Ambala. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Ms Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces of France graced the occasion.

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For Iran China Is In, India Not

India’s war with China is getting more and more imminent, as what has finally come out, after the talks between India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow, it has become clear that situation is clearly heading for a deadlock 1. India in a true case of running with a hare and hunting with a […]

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Afghan Government: ‘Optimistic’ on Opening Talks with Taliban

Afghanistan’s government is optimistic that the delayed peace talks with the Taliban can start soon, acting Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar told an online audience. Atmar’s comments are the latest sign that one reason for the five-month delay, disputes over the two sides’ release of prisoners they have been holding, may be nearly resolved. Taliban attacks on government forces have […]

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Taliban/IEA VBIED and Assault Team Target Community Protection Compound in Gardez, Paktia, Afghanistan

On 01 September at 05:00 am local time, a Taliban VBIED detonated outside the gate to a ‘Convoys Protection Unit,’ or operations unit facility in Gardez. A small assault team then stormed the compound, killing at least 3 members of the security forces. The attackers allegedly were also wearing suicide vests. Per the Taliban statement, the facility was destroyed and […]

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Afghanistan resumes Taliban prisoner release

Afghanistan has resumed the controversial release of hundreds of Taliban prisoners. A Taliban official told the AFP news agency that 200 prisoners had been freed by the Afghan authorities since Monday, while the Taliban reportedly released four Afghan commandos.

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