Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on Sunday rejected Western allegations they were carrying out targeted killings of security officials linked to the ousted U.S.-backed government in Kabul, saying the Islamist group was fully committed to enforcing a general amnesty across the country. “Any (Taliban) member found breaching amnesty decree will be prosecuted and penalized,” tweeted Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban Foreign Ministry […]

A decades-long fight over land has been reinvigorated as Taliban leaders look to reward their fighters with property, even if that means evicting others. For decades, roughly a thousand families called the low-slung mud-walled neighborhood of Firqa home. Some moved in during the 1990s civil war, while others were provided housing under the previous government. Soon after the Taliban takeover […]

On December 2, 2021, United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), in its bi monthly magazine Swadhinta, asked the Government of India (GoI) to send political envoys and not the military, if it decides to discuss its (ULFA-I’s) core demand of creating a ‘sovereign Assam.’ The rebel group argued, “Otherwise, we know that the dialogue would be nothing else but a […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi on Monday, with trade and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan both on the agenda. “The fight against terrorism is also a fight against drug trafficking and organised crime,” Putin said in introductory remarks broadcast by Indian media. “In that regard, we are concerned about developments of the […]

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) forces seized dozens of weapons on Monday in Paktika province that were being smuggled into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. According to a statement issued by the Paktika governor’s office, IEA forces seized 38 different types of weapons in the Angoor Ada area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. “The weapons were placed in a Datsun-type mini […]

A spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) foreign ministry has denied Western allegations that IEA forces have killed members of the former Afghan government’s security forces. Abdul Qahar Balkhi’s remarks came a day after the United States and a number of Western nations condemned reports of the alleged deaths of former Afghan security forces and called for an […]

Russia said on Monday it was reinforcing its military base in Tajikistan with 30 new tanks and that its forces at the facility had carried out exercises with missile defense systems, Reuters reported. The possibility of Islamist militants in Afghanistan infiltrating Tajikistan and other former Soviet republics in Central Asia is a worry for Moscow, which views the region as […]

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani have raised the possibility of jointly operating Kabul’s international airport. Addressing a joint press conference on Monday, Cavusoglu that they would “act together” in Kabul, TRT World reported. “Qatar and Turkey are continuously working with the interim government in Afghanistan to reach an agreement to […]

The UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution to delay a decision on who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar at the world body. In response, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said the United Nations’ move denies the legitimate rights of the Afghan people and is useless and has no legal basis. “The new Afghan government, as an accountable authority with […]

Afghanistan is grappling with a looming humanitarian crisis; 55 percent of the population is facing emergency levels of food insecurity this winter—9 million of whom are on the verge of starvation. As approximately 80 percent of Afghans’ livelihoods are tied directly or indirectly to agriculture, the nexus of the drought, economic collapse, insecurity, displacement, and the pandemic have culminated in […]