The leader of a regional affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist outfit was reportedly killed in Afghanistan this week in an area along the border with Pakistan, intelligence officials in both countries confirmed to VOA. Sanaullah Ghafari, the so-called slain emir of Islamic State Khorasan, or IS-K, has led the terrorist group since June 2020. He was widely known as […]

Islamic State on Friday claimed responsibility for an explosion inside a mosque in northern Afghanistan the day before, the militant group said in a statement. The blast inside a mosque in northern Afghanistan on Thursday killed at least 11 people during the funeral of the Taliban’s provincial deputy governor, who died in an attack earlier this week, officials said.

Attacks by TTP have been rising since peace talks with government broke down in November Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a gun battle with Taliban militants near the Afghan-Pakistan border on Saturday, the latest violent incident in the restive, semi-mountainous frontier region. Pakistan’s army has been battling an escalating number of attacks from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or the Pakistani Taliban […]

The link between the Afghan Taliban and proscribed militant outfits Al-Qaeda and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains “strong and symbiotic”, a report published by the United Nations (UN) said. The fourteenth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council’s 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee — released on Friday — noted that a “range of terrorist groups […]

Two terrorists have been neutralised in a joint operation by the army and Kashmir Police on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara. “Two (02) terrorists have been neutralised in a joint operation of Army and Kupwara Police in Dobanar Machhal area (LoC) of Kupwara district. Search still continues,” informed Kashmir Police in a tweet.

The history of the Islamization of indigenous non-Muslim populations of Kashmir is similar to that of the Middle East and North Africa: native non-Muslim peoples were first conquered by Islamic armies and then subjected to discrimination and persecution, which led to either death, conversion to Islam or departure/flight. Due to killings and forced conversions, there are no Hindus remaining in […]

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday nabbed three terrorists in Gulistan-e-Jauhar in an intelligence-based operation (IBO). The CTD authorities said that the terrorists belonged to a banned outfit, adding that they wanted to launch attacks on important installations. “They also wanted to attack important personalities,” the authorities added. The authorities recovered three hand-grenades and six pistols from the arrested terrorists.

Over 100 Afghans serving prison sentences in Iran were handed over to the Taliban on Sunday. “As a result of the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… 101 Afghan prisoners were transferred again in Nimruz in connection with the agreement reached with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, Chargé d’affaires […]

Days after welcoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of efforts to reset relations with the U.S., Saudi Arabia turned its attention to boosting ties with one of Washington’s main competitors: China, says Bloomberg. A Bloomberg report — Saudi Arabia Looks to China for Business as US Influence Wanes — said on June 13, 2023: For the past two […]

When June 16, 202310:00 am – 11:00 am Where Zoom Webinar Registration For More Information Programs Departmentevents@mei.edu202-785-1141 ext. 202 Iran has had complicated relations with the Taliban since the group emerged in the 1990s. But recent border clashes and deepening tensions over shared water resources represent a serious escalation — and a new set of challenges — for both Tehran […]