Archive for November, 2021

Military Can’t Find ISIS Safe House That Prompted Kabul Drone Strike

The Pentagon’s latest admission illustrates the botched intelligence behind the strike that mistakenly killed 10 civilians in August. The U.S. military has not located a suspected Islamic State safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan, that officials initially said led to an American drone strike on Aug. 29 that mistakenly killed 10 civilians, including seven children, according to two senior military officials. […]

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U.S. says worried about increase in attacks by ISIS-K in Afghanistan

The United States is worried about an uptick in attacks by Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and remains deeply concerned about al Qaeda’s ongoing presence there, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West said on Monday. West spoke to reporters by telephone from Brussels, where he briefed NATO allies on U.S. talks with the Taliban and held consultations on a […]

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Taliban Look to Purge Military of Islamic State Infiltrators

The Taliban are carrying out background checks within their ranks as they look to identify and capture infiltrators from rival Islamic State, which has carried out several deadly attacks across Afghanistan since the militant group took power in August. “Anyone who’s seen as harmful to the government or people of Afghanistan and misusing the authority of the government will be […]

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India: Terror cases over social media posts on Tripura violence

Police charge more than 100 social media accounts under UAPA and other laws for posting on religious violence in the northeastern state. For several times since Saturday, the dreadful thought of having to spend time in jail has crossed the mind of a 20-year-old Indian journalist working for a small and emerging news outlet. The social media account of the […]

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Pakistan agrees one-month ‘complete ceasefire’ with local Taliban militants

Pakistan and local Taliban militants have agreed a one-month ceasefire which may be extended if both sides agree, spokesmen said on Monday, opening the possibility of a fuller peace accord to help end years of bloodshed. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban and have fought for years to overthrow the government […]

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‘A Slow Death’: How the Taliban Crushed Afghanistan’s Flourishing Media

During the 20-year break from Taliban rule after the US invasion, the growth of journalism and creative media was one of Afghanistan’s only success stories. After the years of Taliban rule in the 1990s – when TV was banned completely – the country saw the birth on an independent media, as well a rise in education levels, in particular for […]

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The Threat of Al Qaeda and ISIS-K in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan

A year and a half before their takeover of Afghanistan in August, the Taliban signed a deal with the U.S. stipulating that they would not allow any individuals or groups to use Afghan soil “to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.” Today, with the Taliban in control and U.S. troops withdrawn after two decades of war […]

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Pakistan In Extremism’s Growing Grip – OpEd

Adoption of hardcore Wahabbism, especially by the Zia ul-Haq regime (1978-88), accelerated the rise of extremist organizations in Pakistan. The book, The Quranic Concept of War, by Pakistan Army officer, Maj Gen S.K. Malik, published in 1979, became the ‘Bible’ of the Pakistan Army. The book opens with Zia ul-Haq focusing on the concept of jihad within Islam explaining that […]

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Turkish forces detain 149 Afghan migrants

Turkish security personnel have arrested nearly 150 Afghan migrants on the border with Iran, media reports said on Saturday. The Afghan citizens were detained on Thursday in the eastern city of Bitlis after the country boosted border security to block entry from Afghanistan via Iran. Local officials said one person was arrested on suspicion of smuggling migrants inside a truck […]

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ISIS Poses a Growing Threat to New Taliban Government in Afghanistan

Aref Mohammad’s war against the Islamic State ended earlier this fall when his unit of Taliban fighters was ambushed by the terrorist group in eastern Afghanistan. A bullet shattered his femur, leaving him disabled and barely able to walk, never mind fight. But for the Taliban movement he served under, now the government of Afghanistan, the war against the Islamic […]

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