Even by the standards of Afghanistan’s long war, the Taliban attack near a school that wounded dozens of schoolchildren on Monday stood out as unusually brutal, and expressions of outrage came thick and fast from governments around the world.

The Taliban has launched several major attacks throughout Afghanistan over the past two days, including an attack on the Ministry of Defense in the capital of Kabul, and another on election workers in Kandahar. In Paktia and Kunduz, the Taliban killed dozens of Afghan security personnel.

The Taliban has overrun another district in northern Afghanistan. The district of Qush Tepa in Jawzjan province – which was previously contested – was taken by the Taliban earlier today after several days of fighting, both Afghan officials and the Taliban confirmed.

Afghanistan’s president has held talks with Pakistan’s prime minister as momentum builds for peace talks with the Taliban that are aimed at ending Afghanistan’s decades of war and conflict.

There was an air of expectation on both sides as the Taliban and American diplomats gathered to meet for the latest round of peace talks on Saturday. Afghan and Western officials say that if the Taliban express willingness to finally go to the negotiating table with the Afghan government, American diplomats might be willing to play their main negotiating card: […]

Indian forces killed the spokesman for Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) during an operation on June 26. Shabir Ahmad Malik (also known as Abu Ubaidah) was intially a member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), but he defected to AGH, becoming a mouthpiece for the upstart al Qaeda group.

The Taliban’s “Commission for Military Affairs of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” gave media outlets a one week deadline to cease broadcasting anti-Taliban commercials or they “shall become military targets.” The Taliban has a long history of denouncing and attacking Afghan journalists and other elements of civil society. Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to work.

The Indian Defense Ministry set in motion last Thursday the process of getting six new submarines built under its new Strategic Partnership program, which aims to increase domestic development by partnering Indian firms with foreign ones to produce military hardware.

In his response to President’s speech in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Modi didn’t forget to refer to Sardar Sarovar, the pet project of himself and his own state, Gujarat. He has boasted of the Gigantic Dam which is no doubt standing like a statue but neither has it served the real purpose of satiating the thirst of the drought […]

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a trip to India on Wednesday that he remained hopeful that neighboring Pakistan would chose the “right course” in cracking down on Islamist fundamentalists.