President Trump should be lauded for working toward a withdrawal from Afghanistan, where 14,000 U.S. troops still remain. But he should not expect to leave behind a peaceful situation in the failed state, which is made up of a complex web of tribal divisions and hostilities.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is set to become a crucial leg of the broader Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s mega-project aiming to enhance “all-around connectivity through infrastructure construction”.

ISIS has announced a new branch in Pakistan in a move analysts say is intended to boost recruitment for the flagging militants. The extremist group had claimed all of its attacks in Pakistan in the name of the group’s “Khorasan Province”, which was founded in 2015 to cover “Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands”.

The armed group’s attack in Shamulzayi district of Zabul province also leaves at least four soldiers wounded. A Taliban attack on two military checkpoints has left 10 Afghan army members dead in southern Zabul province, officials said.

China recently conducted a maritime exercise featuring what is being hailed as the world’s most advanced medium-sized amphibious assault vehicle, the ZTD-05s, a weapon that can join amphibious landing ships in land assault missions.

The Taliban’s chief negotiator says in newly released remarks that the United States is on the verge of defeat and will quit Afghanistan soon “either of their own accord, or they will be forced out.”

Al Qaeda’s As Sahab media has released a new video advertising the group’s role in an ambush on an Afghan National Army (ANA) convoy in Paktika province. The purpose of the video isn’t just to highlight this lone operation, however. Al Qaeda uses the footage to emphasize its alliance with the Taliban.

Two of the world’s most acrimonious neighbors also happen to be among the few countries on the planet to have nuclear weapons. Long-running tension between India and Pakistan centers on the border region of Kashmir, an area in the Himalayas claimed in full — and ruled in part — by both. Violence flares often, as it did early in 2019 […]

Authorities in Afghanistan said Saturday coalition airstrikes in an eastern province have killed up to 50 Islamic State militants, while Taliban insurgents have killed at least seven government forces in a western district.

Peace talks between the Taliban and a U.S. peace envoy over a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan are narrowing a gap between the two sides, a spokesman for the insurgent group said Saturday.