Maulana Amir Hamza is one of the most important leaders of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) terrorist group after its amir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. He is a fiery speaker and a prolific writer. These two skills enabled him to rise to a top slot in the... MORE

Recent weeks have seen a number of major narcotics busts in Tajikistan. On June 17, a border patrol found a cache containing almost 420 kilograms of cannabis in Shurobod district, on the country’s southern frontier with Afghanistan. On June 11, the authorities reported busting some... MORE

The United States’ military and security assistance initiatives in Central Asia have frequently aroused controversy in Moscow. Numerous aspects are perceived conspiratorially by the Russian leadership who regard such activities as ultimately designed to weaken Moscow’s influence in the region. Following the completion of the... MORE

Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan relations, which experienced a significant thaw since the death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi), deteriorated again last week (June 19). The most recent conflict began when Turkmenistan started undertaking seismic work on a disputed oilfield in the Caspian Sea. The oilfield, discovered by... MORE

Kazakhstan’s parliament will draft a new law on state borders after 14 soldiers and a ranger were killed at a remote border post on the Chinese-Kazakhstani border on May 28. The sole surviving boarder guard has reportedly confessed to shooting his fellow soldiers in retaliation... MORE

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security agenda has been boosted in recent years through promoting multilateral counter-terrorist cooperation. One important feature in this counter-terrorist cooperation is the staging of Peace Mission joint military exercises ostensibly designed to test and strengthen the capability of the SCO... MORE

On June 6-7, 2012, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its 12th annual summit in Beijing. The meeting’s major outputs included granting Afghanistan observer status, designating Turkey as an SCO “dialogue partner,” and adopting several declarations and agreements.  President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan joined Presidents... MORE

Last month, energy ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a protocol on the construction of power lines within the CASA-1000 (Central Asia-South Asia) project (www.tazabek.kg, May 23). If completed, CASA would allow Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to supply electricity to Pakistan through Afghanistan, becoming... MORE

Anti-Taliban leaders of the former Northern Alliance coexist uneasily with the Kabul government and NATO in Afghanistan’s north. There, China proposes to explore and develop oil and gas fields and to build a transit pipeline for Turkmenistani gas via Afghanistan to China. The coexistence in... MORE

Moscow has reacted with concern after learning about the ongoing talks between Washington and three Central Asian countries aimed at agreeing on the handover of equipment linked to the NATO drawdown in Afghanistan. Russian officials fear that such equipment donations to the Armed Forces in... MORE