Amidst the ongoing stalemate in the Ukrainian war, a major internal conflict has erupted within Russia with the mutiny of the mercenary Wagner Group. On June 23, Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, took to social media to accuse the Russian Ministry of Defense of launching an attack on Wagner’s camp, resulting in significant losses for Wagner personnel. However, the Russian Ministry […]

A terrorist commander was among three killed in an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in the general area Inayat Qilla of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, the army’s media wing said on Wednesday. According to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted the IBO on the reported presence of terrorists. It added that an intense exchange of fire took […]

Pakistani soldiers have killed a member of ISIS in the rugged, semi-mountainous borderland between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It comes as five security forces were killed in clashes with Tehreek-ei-Taliban-e-Pakistan the local branch of the movement that has waged an insurgency against the government since around 2007. Afghan news agency Tolo reported the border clash in Paktika province in Afghanistan on […]

Militance by separatist insurgents in Jammu, part of India’s Jammu and Kashmir territory, is resurfacing after a gap of 14 years, a former top military officer told VOA June 20. There have been at least six deadly attacks, resulting in the loss of 33 lives, including 10 civilians, since 2021. The first wave of militancy emerged in 1990. Deependra Singh […]

Gunmen shot and killed a member of the Sikh community in an overnight attack in the city of Peshawar, police said Sunday. Gauher Khan, a local officer, said the attack on Manmohan Singh, 35, appeared to be a targeted killing. A police investigation continues, Khan said, into the motive. Khan said the assailants opened fire at Singh while he was […]

The Counter Terrorist Department (CTD) has arrested nine terrorists during Intelligence-Based Operations (IBO) in several cities of Punjab. According to the CTD spokesman, the arrests were made from Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, DG Khan and Multan. The arrested terrorists are linked with the banned militant outfits Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda. Explosives, detonators, fuses and Rs152,800 have been recovered from the […]

India has refused to accept the Taliban’s appointed chief envoy to its embassy in Delhi, Farid Mamundzay, who is still the ambassador from the previous government. This has led to a power struggle at the embassy, with Mamundzay refusing to step down and the Taliban government sending its own nominee, Qadir Shah, to replace him. The Indian government’s decision not […]

It is often said that demographics are destiny, but at a macroeconomic level, ageing societies do not need to turn into the economic graveyards that pessimists assert they will. There are important, if limited, coping mechanisms to deal with the predicted stagnation or fall in the working-age population that most countries will face sooner or later. Public policymakers could aim […]

The ethnic clashes in Manipur, a northeastern state in India, stem from a deeply embedded historical conflict between the Meitei community, who primarily inhabit the Imphal Valley, and the hill tribes, mainly the Kukis and Nagas. The violence was sparked by a tribal solidarity march against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, a move that could radically […]

In 2015, China launched the Digital Silk Road (DSR) as part of President Xi Jinping’s flagship transnational infrastructural project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While the first two components of the BRI—the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21stcentury Maritime Silk Road, included infrastructure and housing projects, economic corridors, energy exploration programmes, and renewable energy generation projects, DSR delineated […]