The devastating March 22 terrorist attack on a packed concert hall in the Moscow suburbs brought Afghanistan abruptly back into the spotlight, as suspicions quickly fell on the ISIS branch in the country. While ISIS attributed the carnage to a never-before-mentioned Russian wing, the U.S. had warned about two weeks earlier of intelligence suggesting the Afghan affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, […]

Khawaja Mohammad Asif, the Minister of Defense of Pakistan, has once again said that terrorism in Pakistan originates from Afghanistan and that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have training camps and shelter in the country. He said however that Islamabad should have a comprehensive dialogue with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). However, the IEA has repeatedly denied these allegations and says […]

Iran’s ambassador and special representative for Afghanistan, Hasan Kazemi Qomi, has said that Tehran is seeking to make Afghanistan a strategic partner. Speaking at an event on water diplomacy between Iran and Afghanistan, Qomi said that Iran is seeking to step up its engagement with Afghanistan. He emphasized that creating gap between Iran and the current government in Afghanistan is […]

Two and a half years into their reign, the Afghan Taliban have cemented their ultra-conservative rule across the war-torn country but have yet to turn their fighting force into a traditional military. VOA spoke to analysts who say the former insurgent force does not need to pattern itself after a standard military to effectively counter a mounting security threat from […]

The suspected shooters in the Crocus City attack were Tajiks, which has caused a backlash against labor migrants in Russia. Relations between Tajikistan and Russia, however, are unlikely to be impacted. Responsibility for the March 22 terrorist attack at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow has been claimed by the Afghanistan-based Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), and most of the […]

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, Hasht-e-Subh, a prominent independent daily in Afghanistan, has warned that support for the Afghan Taliban government has led to the strengthening of a range of jihadi organizations, such […]

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, major Urdu-language and English-language dailies in Pakistan published editorials arguing that both the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) and the Islamic State Khurasan Province […]

On Monday, Pakistan launched airstrikes against several suspected hideouts of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces. The Afghan Taliban responded by firing on Pakistani positions along the border, according to the Afghan defense ministry. Pakistan’s defense and foreign ministries called the strikes on Afghanistan “retaliatory,” likely referring to the suicide bombing against a Pakistani military post […]

Balochistan’s Information Minister is psychologically pressuring the Taliban with his dramatic tweet about Pakistan invading and annexing the Wakhan Corridor in the event that it experiences another terrorist attack from Afghan-linked groups. Balochistan’s Information Minister Jan Achakzai tweeted on Wednesday per Google Translate that “If another terrorist attack takes place in Pakistan, the Taliban have already been warned. There will […]

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Sunday that “terrorism” in the South Asian country was being conducted mostly from Afghanistan. This comes a day after militants killed seven Pakistan Army soldiers in Waziristan in the northwest of the country. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Islamic Emirate of not cracking down on militant groups in Afghanistan. However, the Islamic […]