Control Risks said there was a ‘very high’ chance Afghanistan could become a safe haven for terrorists Afghanistan’s fall to Taliban control has created the conditions for terrorist groups to use the country to launch attacks abroad, while Africa’s Sahel region has seen the rise of the fastest growing Islamist insurgency in the world, according to a report by a […]

The Taliban have launched a crackdown on suspected Islamic State hideouts in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, following an increase in bloody attacks by the group in recent weeks. The operation against Islamic State-Khorasan — the local chapter of the jihadist group — started around midnight in at least four districts of Kandahar province and continued through Monday morning, Taliban […]

Deputy Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Alexander Venediktov held a meeting with Thomas West, US State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan, council spokesman Yevgeny Anoshin said on Monday. “Venediktov held a meeting with US State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan Thomas West,” he said. On Monday, during his trip to Moscow, West also met with Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan […]

Afghanistan’s Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) announced Monday that it would auction off around $10 million this week, in a bid to help bring some stability to the Afghan currency. Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) called on commercial banks, money exchangers, and companies that provide money services to attend the auction on Tuesday. The development comes a day after the Afghani […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials said on Tuesday that efforts are underway to establish a strong, disciplined, and educated army to defend the country. Qari Fasihuddin, chief of staff of the IEA, said during a visit to a military camp in Kabul, that the IEA is committed to establishing an army. “Mujahidin of Islamic Emirate are not simple people, […]

In fact, if the Heartland were to succeed in joining the Rimland, the maritime superiority of the United States and more generally of the thalassocratic powers would be over. At that point, the U.S. would only have to shift all its military weight to the Indo-Pacific region and unleash a war directly against China, perhaps under the pretext of Taiwan […]

In recent months there has been a significant expansion of the Taliban power within Afghanistan. It includes areas once controlled by the Northern Alliance—particularly Badakhshan, Takhar and Panjshir, which the Taliban had largely failed to capture in the 1990s. The international community has maintained a cautious stand vis-à-vis the Taliban, but Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, has been […]

Militant attacks inside Pakistan have been rising, highlighting an uncomfortable truth: America’s exit from neighboring Afghanistan has emboldened would-be militant extremists. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has had a knock-on effect in Pakistan. Attacks by a group known as the Pakistani Taliban are on the rise. Last week, the government signed a one-month cease-fire with the group. But as NPR’s […]

A magnetic bomb attached to a passenger minivan exploded in a heavily Shi’ite area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, causing an unknown number of casualties, Taliban officials and local residents said. A recent spate of such attacks has heaped more pressure on the Taliban rulers, who took power following the collapse of the Western-backed government in August and […]

A Taliban provincial spokesman says a bomb exploded in a mosque during Friday prayers, wounding at least 15 people in eastern Afghanistan, where Islamic State group militants have been waging a campaign of violence. Qari Hanif, the government spokesman for Nangarhar Province, said the bomb appeared to have been planted inside the mosque in the town of Traili, located in […]