The Turkish Red Crescent is sending aid to Afghanistan to feed internally displaced people in desperate need of humanitarian aid, the organisation’s head said on Friday. Half a million people have been displaced in Afghanistan in recent months, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, a number which would grow if health services, schools and the economy break […]

A main bus terminal in Kabul is nowadays crowded as many residents of the city try to find their way out of Afghanistan into some neighboring countries. Bus drivers at the Paitakht Bus Terminal said many families were trying to leave Kabul each day, but many could not afford the bus fare to destinations near the border cities. “There are […]

Around the Taliban, and in a bizarre combination of convergence of interests and ideological kinship, a new anti-Western circle is evolving, including a willing NATO member state…. anti-Western sentiments are bringing together these regional powers, who are now courting Afghanistan’s radical rulers. The hard lesson learned from relying on an “ally” for critical production, then needing to reshore that capability […]

The return of Taliban rule over Afghanistan will have significant consequences for the region and international politics more broadly. For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Washington’s Afghanistan fiasco is about more than just the victory of the Taliban; it has been touted as confirmation that U.S. policy in the Islamic world is doomed to fail. In its messaging, Tehran has […]

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity. Afghanistan: Islamic State appeals to “educated extremists” The Biden administration has vowed retaliation against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) for the Aug. 26 attack on the Kabul airport thath killed 13 US armed service members and over 90 Afghan civilians. More violence is likely. US Marine […]

Senior officials from China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran reached a consensus on Thursday to step up communication and coordination on the Afghan issue, Reuters reported. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Assistant to Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Rasoul Mousavi reached the consensus at an informal meeting […]

No one in the Iranian government was sad to see U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan. In fact, Tehran would prefer to have the Taliban next-door than often-hostile Western powers. But Shiite-majority Iran has also been a target of attacks in the past from the Sunni Islamist Taliban, and it worries that if Afghanistan descends into chaos, it could negatively […]

Many Afghan refugees who had fled to Iran are eager to return home to start a new life following the withdrawal of foreign troops in Afghanistan, Reuters reported. Najibollah, 28, comes from Helmand Province in Afghanistan. One month ago, he spent 10 days walking to the Iranian border city Zahedan to avoid the conflict in his hometown. During his stay […]

The Taliban have invited a number of countries, including Russia, to take part in an event dedicated to the announcement of the composition of the new Afghan government, Al Jazeera reported on Monday. “We have sent invitations to Turkey, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar to take part in the [ceremony] of announcing [the composition of the new Afghan] government,” […]

The US and the EU should not buy Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fake pro-Western posture (such as when he offered to run the Kabul airport, then fled) or his fake anti-radicalism (such as when he is courting the Afghan terrorists). Erdogan’s strategy, as a member of NATO, is clearly to bolster Russia’s and China’s plans for the future of […]