The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan accelerated the country’s human rights crisis and humanitarian catastrophe, Human Rights Watch said Thursday in its World Report 2022. After the Taliban took control of the country on August 15, 2021, they rolled back women’s rights advances and media freedom – the foremost achievements of the post-2001 reconstruction effort. Many secondary schools for girls remained […]

In recent years India has faced the biggest threats since independence. While battling a terrible pandemic and its economic consequences, it had to stand up to China in a sharp military confrontation. At first sight, the historical contradictions between India and China are so deep and touchy that any rapprochement between the two looks impossible. However, the fascinating potential of […]

Government jobs are given as patronage to ex-fighters and exiles living quietly in Pakistan. But not all possess the technical skills required for the job. It was 20 years ago when the jihadi, a defense ministry official in the Taliban’s first government, fled Afghanistan as U.S. troops swept into the country. He settled in southwestern Pakistan with other Afghans, bought […]

Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of a provincial capital on Thursday to protest against the Taliban’s arrest of a local commander from the Uzbek ethnic minority. Uzbek Taliban fighters demonstrated in Maimana, in the northern province of Faryab, after an Uzbek Taliban commander named Makhdom Alam, also the police chief of Faryab, was sacked. “He was accused of […]

Bayat Foundation officials said on Thursday that they have distributed food to hundreds of needy families in Paktika province this week in a bid to bring relief to as many local residents as possible. According to the officials, the food parcels included flour, rice and oil. This is part of Bayat Foundation’s ongoing efforts to help desperate Afghans survive the […]

The Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, has issued a decree restricting the amount of money travellers can take out of the country through Kabul International Airport. The head of the airport, Abdul Hadi Hamdan, said on Thursday that according to the decree, no individual or family can take out more than $5,000. […]

Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has departed Kabul for Ashqabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, on Friday to discuss bilateral trade with Turkmen officials. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, stated that Muttaqi, who is leading a high-level delegation, will discuss the TAPI project, and bilateral trade with Turkmen officials. He added Acting Foreign Minister is […]

“… Which country’s army operates housing schemes? The army’s job is to protect the country’s borders; not to participate in commercial activities. — Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, 2019 If one goes by what’s written on the top-left hand side of its entrance, then it’s clear that the imposing building on the banks of Islamabad’s Rawal Lake is […]

On January 7, 2022, two terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) on Amirwanda Road within Lakki Police Station of Bannu District. On January 5, 2022, two soldiers were killed during an IBO in Kot Kili village in the South Waziristan District. The operation was carried out by Security Forces (SFs) following reports of terrorist presence in the area. […]

On December 31, 2021, Security Forces (SFs) during an operation recovered large quantity of explosives from an area three kilometers south of Mawhre village in Saiha District along the India-Myanmar International Border. The recoveries included 81 kilograms of liquid explosives, 94 kilograms of Belox granules, 395 kilograms of Gelatin rods, 356 rounds of a 12-gauge shotgun, 70 mm cartridges, one […]