Category: South East Asia

Provincial council member among six wounded in Badakhshan

Local officials of Badakhshan province confirmed on Saturday that six people including Munira Allamyar, a member of the provincial council, were wounded in an explosion in PD5 of Faizabad city. According to the officials the explosives were placed in a motorbike that targeted a vehicle of Allamyar. Eyewitnesses say that three people including Allamyar, a member of the provincial council, […]

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Govt welcomes NATO’s three-pronged support plan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Afghanistan has welcomed NATO’s pledge to support Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the international forces from the country. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday that NATO’s future support to Afghanistan “will have three main pillars.” “As we end our military presence, we […]

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Police claim interior ministry to blame for collapse of Jalrez to Taliban

Jalrez district in Maidan Wardak province fell to the Taliban due to negligence on the part of the Interior Ministry, police said Saturday. Mujibullah Amini, Police Chief of Jalrez, said in a video message which was heard by Ariana News, that the district had been under siege by the militants for three days but the acting interior minister, Hayatullah Hayat, […]

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District in Maidan Wardak falls to Taliban: officials

Local officials said that the district governor’s compound in Jalrez district in Maidan Wardak and the police headquarters have fallen to the Taliban after heavy attacks by the group for the last three days. Mohammad Sardar Bakhtiari, deputy chairman of Maidan Wardak provincial council, confirms that Jalrez district has fallen and more than 40 security forces have surrendered to the […]

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Stoltenberg highlights NATO’s future support to Afghanistan

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the NATO will continue to support Afghanistan as the organization’s military presence is ending in the country. In a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday, Stoltenberg stated that NATO’s future support to Afghanistan “will have three main pillars.” “As we end our military presence, we are opening a new chapter. […]

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Pakistan blast kills six, wounds 13 at pro-Palestinian rally

A bomb blast killed six people on Friday at a pro-Palestinian rally in southwest Pakistan and wounded 13, including the leader of a hardline religious party that organized the event, police said, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The motorcycle bomb exploded as people dispersed at the end of the rally held in the city of Chaman near […]

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Taliban has ‘surrounded’ five Afghan provincial capitals

The Taliban has “surrounded” five provincial capitals in Afghanistan as of Feb. 2021, according to the Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. FDD’s Long War Journal has assessed that 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces are now under direct Taliban threat. For information on districts controlled and contested by the Taliban, see LWJ report, Mapping Taliban Control in Afghanistan. The […]

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China’s security cooperation with Afghanistan: Hope or hype?

According to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Beijing is willing to deepen counter-terrorism and security cooperation with Afghanistan and help the country strengthen its anti-terrorism capacities. Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar on Monday. Wang said China would continue to support the Afghan government in the country’s peace […]

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Taliban maintains close ties with al Qaeda, DIA reports

The Taliban has “maintained close ties with al Qaeda” and is “very likely preparing for large-scale offensives against population centers and Afghan government installations,” according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The DIA’s analysis is cited in a report prepared by the Department of Defense’s Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan. The inspector general’s report was released […]

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US Lawmakers Seek Continued Efforts in Afghanistan

Eleven members of the US House of Representatives–10 Democrats and one Republican–wrote a letter to President Joe Biden on the “enduring interests and ideals that should continue to guide US efforts in Afghanistan even as the armed forces end their mission in the country” amid the start of the withdrawal of American troops from the country. The letter was signed […]

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