The recent terror attack at Kabul airport by an affiliate of the Salafi-jihadi Islamic State, the Islamic State-Khorasan, was a fresh reminder that Salafi-jihadis have been regrouping and focusing their timely attacks on soft targets meant to create deadly pandemonium and inflict harm and damage on American personnel and policies. Arguably, the Biden Administration’s warning that more terror attacks loomed […]

Taliban fighters advanced deep into the last holdout province of Panjshir Sunday, as the top US general warned Afghanistan faces a wider civil war that would offer fertile ground for a resurgence of terrorism. Following their lightning fast rout of Afghanistan’s army last month — and celebrations when the last US troops flew out after 20 years of war on […]

The new defense minister of Iran pledged that his ministry will do its utmost to boost the capabilities of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. In a meeting with IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami in Tehran on Saturday, Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani reaffirmed the Defense Ministry’s full support for all armed forces of the country. Highlighting the […]

The Taliban claimed Saturday that their forces had seized several districts in the northern Panjshir Valley, the last remaining province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group. Taliban officials said that overnight advances had brought several days of fighting to Anaba, an area close to the provincial capital, Bazarak. Emergency, an Italy-based charity, confirmed the Taliban had reached Anaba. […]

The Indian government has been faced with a strange dilemma since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. On Aug. 31, within hours of US forces departing the war-torn nation, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that its envoy to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, had met with the head of the Taliban’s political office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai. This triggered […]

Three people were killed and 20 others wounded in a suicide attack on a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday. The suicide bombing targeted a Frontier Constabulary check-post on the Mastung road in Quetta, the provincial capital, a senior police officer said. Azhar Akram, deputy inspector-general of Quetta police, told reporters 18 of the injured were security […]

Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy agency, arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks with the Taliban regarding matters related to the safe evacuation of foreign nationals, border management and security in the region, sources said. Geo News reported that Hameed will also meet with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan […]

A meeting of Special Representatives of China, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan was hosted by Pakistan on Sunday, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq said. In a tweet, Sadiq tweeted on Sunday that he chaired the virtual meeting and the latest situation in Afghanistan was discussed. The representatives of these countries unanimously stressed that peace in Afghanistan is […]

Kosovo has agreed to take in Afghanistan evacuees who fail to clear initial rounds of screening and host them for up to a year, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity Saturday. The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said later in a statement that the arrangement did not mean Kosovo was taking evacuees who had been deemed ineligible for admission […]

The Taliban on Sunday vowed to form an “inclusive and accountable” government in Afghanistan. Taliban Deputy Leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said that the government would be formed soon. “We are working to form an inclusive government that represents all the people of Afghanistan, but security is essential to start big economic projects in Afghanistan,” Baradar stated. He emphasized that […]