Afghanistan, under the Taliban’s control, has become a victim of one of its biggest humanitarian crises wrought by widespread food shortages, unemployment and restrictions on women’s fundamental rights. The prevalent turmoil in Afghanistan has created a conducive environment for the resurgence of radical terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISKP) and Al-Qaeda. Taliban-led Afghanistan is thus posing […]

China’s trade with Afghanistan has been growing fast and it may become the second-largest trading nation with Afghanistan in 2023 after Pakistan, a situation that bodes well for the continuation of the CPEC part of the Belt & Road Initiative into Afghanistan, as per Silk Road Briefing (SRB). Silk Road Briefing provides global and regional intelligence to assist and monitor […]

Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, said in a statement on Sunday that the Islamic Emirate will proceed with plans to convert former foreign military bases into special economic zones in the country. “It was decided that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce should progressively take control of the remaining military bases of the foreign forces […]

The leader of Hizb-e-Islami says that Daesh does not have a significant presence in Afghanistan and that the group carries out its attacks by “buying people who are ignorant and uninformed about Islam”. At a meeting in Kabul, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said that terrorist groups including Daesh do not have a physical footprint in Afghanistan, and the attacks claimed by this […]

A devastating humanitarian and economic crisis has forced millions of Afghans to find new sources of income. A growing number of them have turned to the booming methamphetamine industry to eke out a living and stave off starvation. Among them is Ahmad Wali, who lives in the remote province of Ghor in central Afghanistan. Wali is believed to be among […]

Recently a new wave of deadly acts of terrorism in Afghanistan, and from Afghanistan into Pakistan, has erupted again. To understand its raison d’être in general and the focus of its violence on Pakistan and Afghanistan a critical review of the major political upheaval in Pakistan continuing since about a year now is essential. Critical ReviewIt was in the beginning […]

Senior Taliban leaders rarely publicly disagree with official policies issued by the group’s supreme leader, but there are signs of increasing internal dissent as the Taliban struggles to gain international recognition after one and a half years in power. The Taliban’s acting defense minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in an event marking the 34th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, […]

The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country thereafter ushered in a host of geopolitical challenges for South and Central Asia. The resulting power vacuum in Afghanistan could lead the country to become a safe haven for transnational terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, much like it did prior to the 9/11 attacks. […]

A member of the Canadian parliament has called on the Liberal government to lift barriers preventing Canadians from providing aid in Afghanistan. On Thursday, a motion from New Democratic Party Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson was adopted unanimously by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs and International Development Committee, calling on the government to immediately amend sections of the Criminal […]

The Ministry of Economy (MoE) says the country’s ongoing economic crisis is due to continued economic and banking sanctions and the freezing of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves. According to MoE officials, although basic economic projects have not been implemented in Afghanistan in the past two decades, the Islamic Emirate is trying to use all the facilities it has to solve the […]