The Taliban have launched a crackdown on suspected Islamic State hideouts in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, following an increase in bloody attacks by the group in recent weeks. The operation against Islamic State-Khorasan — the local chapter of the jihadist group — started around midnight in at least four districts of Kandahar province and continued through Monday morning, Taliban […]

Deputy Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Alexander Venediktov held a meeting with Thomas West, US State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan, council spokesman Yevgeny Anoshin said on Monday. “Venediktov held a meeting with US State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan Thomas West,” he said. On Monday, during his trip to Moscow, West also met with Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan […]

Afghanistan’s Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) announced Monday that it would auction off around $10 million this week, in a bid to help bring some stability to the Afghan currency. Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) called on commercial banks, money exchangers, and companies that provide money services to attend the auction on Tuesday. The development comes a day after the Afghani […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials said on Tuesday that efforts are underway to establish a strong, disciplined, and educated army to defend the country. Qari Fasihuddin, chief of staff of the IEA, said during a visit to a military camp in Kabul, that the IEA is committed to establishing an army. “Mujahidin of Islamic Emirate are not simple people, […]

On November 13, 2021, at least 26 Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed in an encounter by the Commando-60 (C-60, the special anti-Maoist Force of the Maharashtra Police) units, in the forests of Mardintola in Gyarapatti area in Korchi Tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District. Four Security Force (SF) personnel sustained injuries during the encounter. The encounter started […]

India has much to gain from 5G not only due to the high speed data transfers it provides but also from the way the technology will impact agriculture, education, healthcare, transportation and other services. The technology is expected to increase global GDP by about US$2 trillion in key sectors such as healthcare, retail, mobility and manufacturing alone. But the road […]

Jung Chang’s Wild swans: Three daughters of China, 2004 [1991], skewers Mao and Maoism like no other memoir of the surreal hell that China descending into from 1954 until the death of Mao in 1976. Both her parents were model communists, her father one of Mao’s early disciples in Yunan, the golden age for Mao. Both were tormented starting in […]

Satellite images released in early-October revealed recent construction at Ream Naval Base on Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand coast, part of a China-backed redevelopment plan. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported that over August and September, three new buildings had been constructed, while several areas had been cleared of foliage and a road was under development. The activity comes amid concern […]

In fact, if the Heartland were to succeed in joining the Rimland, the maritime superiority of the United States and more generally of the thalassocratic powers would be over. At that point, the U.S. would only have to shift all its military weight to the Indo-Pacific region and unleash a war directly against China, perhaps under the pretext of Taiwan […]

Following the Galwan conflict in June 2020, China-India relations have gone through one of their worst phases. Despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks, progress in military disengagement has been painstakingly slow, and there is a deployment of 50,000-60,000 troops on each side of the line of the actual control (LAC), the temporary border between India and China. Even […]