The United States spent millions of dollars on Afghanistan over 20 years, with a prop up a government that would build a nation-state. With the Taliban attacks and the destruction of the state-building process, the US and its allies could no longer bear the brunt to remain engaged in Afghanistan. This led to negotiations with the Taliban. As soon as […]

Taliban militants in Pakistan declared an end to a month-long ceasefire arranged with the aid of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), accusing the government of breaching terms including a prisoner release agreement and the formation of negotiating committees. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are a separate movement from the IEA and have fought for years to overthrow […]

Germany has pledged to admit 25,000 Afghans deemed most at risk following the Islamic Emirate if Afghanistan (IEA) takeover in Kabul from about 40,000 such people that European Union states are to accept, according to a letter by a senior EU official. Germany had a record number of almost 900,000 people seeking refuge on its soil in 2015, most of […]

With Afghan Taliban now controlling neighbouring Afghanistan, Waziristan residents say they fear a return to life under Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Every night, Muhammad Nadeem gathers his weary body and begins the first watch. His rifle across his lap, he sits at the entrance of his home in the northwestern Pakistani town of Tank and waits. Periodically, he will walk around the […]

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan more than three and a half months ago amid a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops, their fighters have changed roles, from insurgents fighting in the mountains and fields to an armed force running the country. Many Taliban foot soldiers now have new jobs: manning checkpoints on the streets and carrying out security […]

The head of India’s armed forces, General Bipin Rawat, was among 13 people killed on Wednesday when the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed, the air force said, Reuters reported. According to the report they were en route from an air force base to a hillside military college in the southern state of Tamil Nadu when the Russian-made Mi-17V5 […]

Members of the Haqqani family and Paktia residents have laid the first foundation stone for a new madrassa, that will be named after the network’s founding father Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani. The religious studies school will be built on four acres of land in Gardez city in Paktia province and is being sponsored by local businessmen. Haqqani officials said Wednesday this […]

How the Taliban’s Takeover Is Inspiring Other Jihadis As the Taliban swept across Afghanistan this summer, all eyes were on their fighters as they triumphed over the Afghan security forces, which surrendered in large numbers as the Taliban rapidly advanced. But the Taliban’s victory did not happen overnight, and it did not come about because of the group’s military might […]

Over 100,000 Indian and Chinese troops are preparing to spend another brutal winter confronting each other at high altitudes along the Indian-Chinese border. A year and a half after Chinese soldiers seized territory on the boundary, preventing Indian patrols from going where they had gone for years, both sides have increased military deployments, accelerated the construction of permanent infrastructure throughout […]

How Will China’s Bureaucrats Interpret His Call for “Common Prosperity?” In the seven decades during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been in power, its leaders have often articulated their visions and signature platforms using lofty rhetoric and vague slogans. In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping spoke of pursuing “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” In the first decade of this century, […]