When the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, visited the Tamil majority Northern Province in mid-December, he did things no envoy of Communist China had done before. Ambassador Qi performed puja at the Nallur Kandaswamy temple in the traditional Tamil way, bare-chested, unshod, wearing a white silk vetti and carrying a basket of ritual offerings. The Ambassador did it […]

A band of suspected Daesh militants is on the run in Pakistan after escaping a police raid that killed six other members of the group, officials said Monday. Counterterrorism police said in a statement they had stormed a hideout in the southwestern city of Quetta on Saturday and killed six militants, but “around four to five managed to escape.” A […]

Blast occurred when a food cart struck an old, unexploded mortar shell in Nangarhar province, local officials say. An explosion in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan has killed at least nine children and wounded four others, according to local officials. The blast on Monday took place when a cart selling food items struck an old, unexploded mortar shell […]

Khalid Balti, former spokesperson for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, has been killed in Nangarhar province. A senior leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban or TTP) has been killed in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistani security officials say, as a peace talks process between the armed group and the government remain stalled. Khalid Balti, also known by the nom de guerre Muhammad Khorasani when […]

The Taliban are pressuring exiled diplomats in an attempt to take back Afghanistan’s embassies. The Taliban have begun more aggressively to replace Afghanistan’s exiled diplomats who have resisted the militant group’s rule, current and former Afghan officials told Foreign Policy, using surprise diplomatic appointments and the threat of violence as a first step toward seeking wider political recognition. In the […]

Mawlavi Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Islamic Emirate’s acting minister of higher education, said the reason for the closure of state universities was because of financial problems but stated these issues would be resolved and the education facilities would reopen soon. Speaking at a press conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Haqqani said that there are 40 public and 150 private universities […]

Afghanistan’s ruling Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government has asked Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to return Afghan Air Force planes and helicopters that were flown to neighboring countries by fleeing pilots in August last year as the former government in Kabul collapsed. Addressing a Ministry of Defense ceremony in Kabul on Tuesday, IEA Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob said his government would […]

Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has reiterated his call to the international community for the recognition of Afghanistan under the rule of the Islamic Emirate. Addressing a conference via video entitled “Peace and Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan”, Muttaqi stated IEA will remain committed to the Doha deal. “Whether America recognizes the government of Afghanistan or not; this is […]

A group of Taliban officials met over the weekend in Iran with leaders of several armed Afghan resistance groups, reportedly offering to let them return home safely. It was the first direct interaction between Afghanistan’s new rulers and an alliance of domestic militias that launched a short-lived uprising after the Islamist extremists took power in August. But a spokesman for […]

A statement broadcast on Kazakh TV on Friday told Almaty residents to stay inside during the security operation in the city. Video obtained by Reuters showed the broadcast statement, which said: “Respectable Inhabitants of Almaty! A counter-terrorist operation to destroy bandit groups is going on in Almaty. The main goal is to stop terrorists and safeguard the security of the […]