The UN humanitarian agency has expressed concern over a worsening human rights situation in Afghanistan, citing new restrictions on women and girls, violence against Herat protesters and civilian casualties from recent Pakistan cross-border airstrikes. In an update released Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it was alarmed by reports of increasing restrictions imposed on […]

Human Rights Watch on Thursday said Taliban used excessive force against protesters in the western city of Herat, saying the Taliban beat demonstrators, fired into crowds and carried out arrests following Tuesday’s protest. In a statement, the HRW said Taliban forces killed a child, injured several people and detained an unknown number of protesters during the June 9 demonstration. The […]

As a landmark tool for tracking the group’s activity hits another sobering milestone, U.S. officials cannot let regional crises completely overshadow important shifts in jihadist threats around the world. In March 2023, The Washington Institute launched the Islamic State Select Worldwide Activity Map in order to track the organization more holistically than attack data alone allowed, incorporating propaganda activity, claims […]

Hindu nationalism is a political doctrine holding that Hindu identity coincides with Indian national identity. This is its fundamental distinction from the “geographical” nationalism of the Indian National Congress. The preconditions for the emergence of Hindu nationalism appeared at the turn of the twentieth century, but it took definitive shape in the 1920s and 1930s as a response to the […]

In diplomatic history, the naming of a process matters because it transforms geography into political infrastructure. Geneva, Oslo and Doha became more than venues; they evolved into recognised architectures through which negotiations acquired continuity, legitimacy and memory. Islamabad’s attempt to attach its name to US–Iran engagement suggests a similar strategic calculation. Pakistan has attempted to institutionalise itself as a necessary […]

On the early morning of June 10, 2026, Pakistani military aircraft launched a series of cross-border airstrikes, targeting civilian and residential areas in the eastern Afghan provinces of Khost, Kunar, and Paktika. According to the Taliban Government’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, the strikes killed at least 13 people – including 11 children, one woman, and an elderly man – while […]

Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed carrying out airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, saying the operation targeted militant hideouts along the border and killed 26 members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In a statement, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to a series of recent attacks inside Pakistan, including an assault on a Federal Constabulary post in Musa […]

Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, has condemned the Taliban’s response to Tuesday’s protests in Herat, describing their actions against demonstrators as contrary to Islamic and humanitarian principles. In a statement issued on behalf of his party, Mohaqiq said that “violating the dignity, rights and honor of the people” has never been, and will never be, […]

Local residents say Taliban have increased patrols and checkpoints across Herat, a day after protest in northwest of the city against recent arrests of women by Taliban. The Jebrail area in northwest of Herat City is the most affected, local residents said, adding that Taliban members are seen patrolling in every corner of the area. Amidst shower of condemnations of […]

Manipur: Deepening Ethnic Entanglements The ethnic conflict that erupted in Manipur in May 2023 was initially characterised as a confrontation between the Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo tribes inhabiting the surrounding hill districts. More than three years later, while the Meitei-Kuki conflict remains unresolved, a parallel and increasingly violent confrontation has emerged between the Naga […]