When China’s infamous list of 14 grievances with Australia was leaked in 2018, commentators noted that certain complaints — including ‘unfriendly’ media coverage of China in Australia — were issues that are viewed in liberal democracies as rightfully outside the control of the government of the day. While perhaps unlikely to succeed in Australia’s case, this tactic of putting pressure […]

On November 4, 2022, State Director General of Police (DGP), Sunil Kumar Bansal, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the District Intelligence and Operation Centre in Nuapada District, disclosed that a joint task force to combat Left Wing Extremism (LWE) would be formed in view of the vulnerabilities of the district to Naxalites (Left Wing Extremist) activities in neighbouring Chhattisgarh. The […]

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: The Poorest Countries in Central Asia (FPRI) — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are probably the most dependent on Russia of all the Central Asian states. Some 1.1 million migrant laborers from Kyrgyzstan and 1.6 million from Tajikistan worked abroad in 2021, most in Russia. According to the World Bank, remittances sent to Kyrgyzstan in 2021 accounted for 33 percent of GDP and in […]

A major border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan has closed for trade and transit after a clash between security force personnel from both sides, a local Pakistani official said on Monday. Abdul Hameed Zehri, the Deputy Commissioner of the town of Chahman, which borders the Afghan district of Spin Boldak, said the closure came after prolonged firing between security forces […]

A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced to death two Islamic militants for killing 13 people in a suicide attack last year in the country’s northwest, police said Monday. Senior police officer Zeeshan Asghar told reporters in the garrison city of Abbottabad that Judge Sajjad Ahmed Jan announced the verdict in the high security prison on Friday, after months of trial. […]

Pakistan has reportedly called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to hand over a border guard who is suspected of killing a Pakistani Frontier Corps guard at the Spin-Chaman crossing earlier this week. Pakistan has accused an IEA border guard of crossing over the border and opening fire on Frontier Corps members, killing one and wound two others. VOA reported […]

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday issued a statement confirming the death of a Pakistani border guard during clashes between security forces at the Spin Bokday-Chaman crossing. Mujahid said in the statement that “on the road leading from Spin Boldak to Chaman in Kandahar province, an unknown person fired at Pakistani security personnel, as a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]