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Latest Articles about Afghanistan
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The Kremlin’s Bluff in Afghanistan
A close examination of the Russian government’s public positions on the impending Taliban takeover of Afghanistan provides a revealing picture of Moscow’s approach to conflicts abroad and of its posture in Central Asia more specifically. While reveling in Washington’s failure in Afghanistan (TASS, July 16,... MORE
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Beijing Expanding Size and Role of Its ‘Private’ Military Companies in Central Asia
For the last several years, China has made use of its own private military companies (PMC) to guard Chinese industrial sites and transportation networks across Central Asia that it views as essential to its broader “One Belt, One Road” (more recently known as the Belt... MORE
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Pakistan Braces for U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan through Extra-Regional Partnerships
While the United States is expected to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan well before its September 11 deadline, the countries bordering the violence-plagued nation are enhancing their capacity to combat a potential new wave of terrorism. The chaos emanating from Afghanistan poses a large security... MORE
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Amidst Taliban Gains, Russian Strategic Assets Threatened in Central Asia
On July 8, a high-ranking Taliban delegation came to Moscow and held talks with Zamir Kabulov, a former ambassador to Kabul, the Kremlin’s special envoy on Afghanistan and a department chief in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apparently, the Taliban representatives hoped to meet Russian... MORE
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Taliban Controls Afghanistan’s Northern Borders, Unsettling Countries Near and Far
With the ongoing withdrawal of the United States’ military forces and the consequent weakening of the Afghan government, the Taliban now controls much of the territory of Afghanistan and most of its northern borders, posing a threat to its three immediate northern neighbors (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan... MORE
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Pakistan’s TTP Mounts Comeback Under New Leadership of Wali Mehsud
On May 5, four Pakistani soldiers were killed and six injured on the Pakistani-Afghan border in the Baluchistan region when militants opened fire from Afghan territory, where Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) still enjoys safe haven (Dawn, May 5) The TTP, led by Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud,... MORE
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Islamic State’s Pakistan Province Launches New Jihadist Magazine
The first Urdu-language magazine of Islamic State’s Pakistan Province (IS-P) called Yalghar (Invasion) was published at the end of April 2021 on social media accounts that regularly disseminate IS-P propaganda materials. The magazine is IS-P’s first indigenous propaganda product. IS-P propaganda materials have otherwise not... MORE
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Hazara Militia Leader Abdul Ghani Alipoor Emerges as Counter-Weight to Taliban and Islamic State Forces in Behsud
Introduction Around midnight on March 18, an Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) helicopter was shot down in the Behsud district of Afghanistan’s central Maidan Wardak province. Nine military personnel, including the pilot, were killed in the attack. The Afghan Ministry of Defense blamed... MORE
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An In-Depth Portrait of a Pakistani Taliban Founding Father: Umar Khalid Khurasani
In August 2020, eight important Pakistani jihadist groups opposed to Islamabad joined the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Among them was an influential group led by Commander Umar Khalid Khurasani, a.k.a. Abdul Wali Mohmand. The TTP chief, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, declared that... MORE
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Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan: Is China in its Crosshairs?
On April 21, a car packed with explosives detonated in the parking lot of the Serena Hotel in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province. Five people were killed and another twelve were injured in the attack (Dawn, April 21). Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed... MORE