The U.S. Navy “seriously violated China’s sovereignty” on Wednesday by sending a destroyer past the Paracel Islands, a disputed chain in the South China Sea, according to the Chinese military command for the area. The USS Benfold steamed past the Paracels, 200 miles off China’s southern coast, on a freedom-of-navigation operation to assert “navigational rights and freedoms,” according to the […]

India and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supply 10,000 metric tons of wheat to Afghanistan where nearly 19 million people – half of the population – are facing acute food insecurity, compounded by the recent earthquake that struck the eastern part of the country in June. The MoU marks the […]

Takhar security authorities say they have the border areas in the province under control and will not allow threats to be created from Afghanistan against Tajikistan. The acting head of the Takhar Police Command Qari Zakrullah Zaker says that they have the necessary preparations in place in coordination with the National Army and the Border Police, and that there are […]

Somalia Newly elected president took steps to mend ties with regional member states and appointed new PM; Al-Shabaab suffered major defeat in Galmudug state; risk of famine persisted. In effort to reset relations between federal govt and member states, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud late May-early June travelled to South West and Galmudug states, whose leaders had been aligned with former […]

Afghanistan Intra-Taliban debate over social policies continued, World Bank announced new economic projects, and fighting between Taliban and opposition groups persisted. Video 6 June surfaced showing Kabul governor stating current situation regarding women is not acceptable and urged ministry for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice to implement decrees in capital. Deputy FM Abbas Stanikzai 19 June criticised govt’s […]

A BBC Panorama investigation has uncovered evidence that the British SAS, a special forces unit, executed detainees and murdered unarmed people during operations in Afghanistan. The investigation found new evidence of scores of secret killings by the SAS, and efforts by some of the most senior figures in UK Special Forces to conceal evidence of war crimes. Panorama has identified […]

Ever since they took control of Kabul last summer, the Taliban have sought to assure neighboring countries that Afghanistan is open for business and that they can protect investments. Islamic State is making that sales pitch harder. Take Tashkent’s ambition to build a railway across Afghanistan that would connect Uzbekistan to ports in Pakistan and link Central Asia to new […]

The Promise and Peril of Rapprochement With the Taliban Since taking power last summer, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has been isolated internationally; not a single country has yet recognized it. But in recent weeks, Taliban officials have made a series of increasingly public overtures to a once unlikely prospective partner: India. And the interest has been reciprocated, to some extent. At […]

Anas Haqqani said this week that the Haqqani Network never existed and that when he was arrested in Qatar, he had been a harmless student on holiday. In 2014, when he was 20, Haqqani was arrested in Qatar, tried in Kabul and sentenced to death. According information obtained by Der Spiegel, the only reason he wasn’t ultimately executed was because […]

Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada, supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Saturday in his Eid speech, warned officials not to create a gap between the government and people. “Governments have collapsed through the creation of gaps between people and government and I instruct IEA officials to stand with the people and not to create a gap between people […]