Since the return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the calculus for Moscow has been tricky: how to reassert its regional influence after the U.S. military exit while also keeping some distance from internal Afghan struggles. “Afghanistan itself is not of interest to Russia,” said Andrei Serenko, the head of the Moscow-based Center of Contemporary Afghan Studies. “Russia wants to use […]

Inside the 25-foot-high, barbed-wire-topped walls of Pul-e-Charkhi prison, a thin line divides the Taliban of the past and what the militants claim they have become. To Afghanistan’s new rulers, the inmates are evidence of their ability to effectively police the capital in a law-abiding manner. But on a recent day, when scores of prisoners gathered outside their cells to soak […]

The port of Chabahar—located on the Makran coast of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province, near to the Gulf of Oman and at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz—is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Thanks to its strategic position and links to north-south transit corridors, it has been termed the “Golden Gate” to landlocked […]

Iran and Pakistan are talking about the strengthening of their military relations, in the face of the Taliban takeover in neighboring Afghanistan and the region’s geopolitical changes. Iran’s army chief, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, headed a high-level military delegation to Islamabad last week at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa. Marking a new phase in […]

Although there was no uncertainty about the ongoing failure of the US to dislodge Taliban in Afghanistan after twenty years, President Biden addressed the withdrawal of US forces in his speech to the nation on August 16, 2021. People were in favour of his decision to end the war because of the agreement made between former US President, Mr. Donald […]

The United States’ chaotic departure from Afghanistan has left the region with mounting security questions and uncertain alliances as key countries take a cautious stance toward the new Taliban government, regional experts said in a recent online East-West Center discussion panel. Experts speaking in the “The New Geopolitics of Afghanistan” webinar predicted that Pakistan likely will be the only country […]

In talks with the delegation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Turkey on Thursday reiterated the importance of government inclusiveness for Afghanistan’s unity, Reuters reported. Turkey repeated its advice to the visiting IEA delegation on girls’ education and women’s employment in business life, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference following a meeting with Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister […]

A large explosion ripped through a mosque in the southern Kandahar province on Friday afternoon. The blast happened at the Shi’ite Fatimiya mosque during Friday prayers, causing heavy casualties. Sources said at least 34 people were killed and 69 others wounded in the explosion. Afghan officials have not confirmed the casualties so far. Qari Saeed Khosti, a spokesman for the […]

Uzbekistan has strongly rejected any possible stationing of US troops in the Central Asian country to purportedly combat terrorism in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the war-ravaged country. “This is out of the question,” Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said after US-based news outlet Politico reported Thursday that Pentagon officials intended to visit Uzbekistan this month to discuss the […]

An Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) Ranger vehicle was targeted in a roadside explosion on Thursday in Asadabad, the capital of eastern Kunar province. The incident happened at about 11am and the target was the IEA’s Shigal district police chief, local officials said. The Shigal police chief was killed and 11 others were injured in the blast, security sources said. […]