Archive for November 16th, 2022

Chinese Geopolitical Inroads Into Central Asia Are Coming at Russia’s Expense

The Ukraine war has revitalized the silent competition between China and Russia in Central Asia. Despite the steady shift in China’s favor since the Soviet collapse, Russia’s entrenched influence and friendly ties between Beijing and Moscow will prevent open contention. At the recent Commonwealth for Independent States (CIS) summit held on October 14 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon […]

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Taliban Bring Back Executions And Amputations In Afghanistan

Executions, stonings and amputations are possible punishments for crimes once more in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordered Afghan judges to impose Sharia-law punishments for certain crimes, according to a tweet from Zabihullah Mujahid, Mr. Akhundzada’s spokesman. Mullah Akhundzada has ordered Afghan judges to fully implement sharia law and its punishments, which include mutilations, flogging and executions. The […]

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A CIA veteran who survived a hand-to-hand battle with Al Qaeda is now helping Afghans escape the Taliban

Two decades after fighting in the first big battle of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, a CIA veteran is coming to the aid of former Afghan comrades before the Taliban hunts them down. The desperate pleas come flooding into David Tyson’s cellphone, from a country that has fallen off the American radar. The texts are from Afghans who fought alongside […]

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Hindi-Language Daily Interviews Fleeing Afghan Sikhs: ‘Our Children Used To Go To School; Other [Muslim] Children Used To Call Them ‘Unbeliever’; ‘My 13-Year-Old Daughter Manmeet Kaur Wanted To Study While Living In Afghanistan; Girls Were Not Allowed To Go Out After The Age Of Six’

Recently, a Hindi-language newspaper in India published interviews with three Sikhs who had fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. As of late September 2022, there were reportedly only 43 Hindus and Sikhs remaining in Afhganistnan.[1] In recent years, both before and after the Taliban seized power, Sikh places of worship, called gurudwaras, were attacked […]

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Urdu Daily Reports: Taliban Rejected U.S. Offer To Recognize Afghan Taliban Government In Exchange For Permission To Build Two Airbases In Northern Afghanistan

According to an Urdu-language newspaper, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) has turned down a U.S. offer of $3 billion in exchange for permission to build two airbases in northern Afghanistan. Roznama Ummat, the pro-Taliban Urdu daily, reported that CIA Deputy Director David Cohen and Afghan Taliban intelligence chief Maulvi Abdul Haq Wasiq met in Doha […]

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Issue 11 Of ISIS-K’s Pashtu-Language Magazine ‘Khurasan Ghag’: ‘CIA Network Is The Source Of Ongoing Troubles In The Islamic Ummah; The CIA Turned The Islamic Ummah Into Pieces’

The latest issue “Khurasan Ghag [Voice of Khurasan],” the Pashtu-language magazine published by Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the media arm of the Islamic State’s Khurasan Province (ISIS-K), describes the de facto Afghan Taliban government as “a drama written and directed by CIA and ISI,” and says that “the CIA is leading an ideological war in the Islamic world and wants […]

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