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Latest Articles about Afghanistan
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China’s Evolving Security Presence in Afghanistan and Central Asia
Introduction In December, officials from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan told the Hindustan Times that a network of ten nationals from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were detained in Kabul for organizing a “terrorist cell.” Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) began a crackdown... MORE
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Iran Rapidly Expanding Rail Links With Central Asia and Caucasus
The United States and other Western countries have worked long and hard to marginalize Iran as punishment for its transgressions on the international stage. Nevertheless, Iran’s neighbors as well as states further out, including Russia, China and the Central Asian republics, understand that their plans... MORE
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Afghanistan and Desire for Closer Relations Top Agenda of US-Uzbekistan Meeting
The Eighth Annual Bilateral Consultations between Uzbekistan and the United States were held in Washington on November 15–22 (The Tashkent Times, November 22). Tashkent had two main goals for these high-level talks. First, it sought to reconfirm Uzbekistan’s foreign policy of maintaining equally favorable relations... MORE
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Abu Muhammad al-Masri and Husam Abd al-Rauf—Deaths of Top Leaders Raise Questions About the Future of al-Qaeda
The global jihadist group al-Qaeda is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, having lost several key members of its central leadership this year. The latest prominent al-Qaeda figure to be killed is Abu Muhammad al-Masri, one of two deputies to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Reports about his... MORE
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Mawlawi Abdul Hakim—Taliban’s Negotiator-in-Chief at the Intra-Afghan Talks
On September 5, the Taliban announced its 21-member team that would engage in negotiations with Afghan government representatives at Doha, Qatar. The Taliban’s ”Chief Justice,“ Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, an “ultraconservative” and “hardline cleric,” was appointed chief of the negotiating team. He replaced Sher Mohammad Abbas... MORE
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Islamic State Hind Province’s Kashmir Campaign and Pan-Indian Capabilities
When Islamic State (IS) announced an Indian-based ‘province’ (wilayah) on May 10, 2019, IS effectively consolidated previously fragmented pro-IS jihadist entities under the IS Hind (IS-H) province banner. IS aimed to increase its recruitment and operational success in embattled Kashmir, which has a long tradition... MORE
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Central Asia’s Specter of Insecurity: The View from Badakhshan to Fergana
Amid ongoing negotiations between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, the period between late September and November was marked by increasing violence in Afghanistan, which resulted in hundreds of casualties among the Afghan military and police as well as civilians (Stanradar.com, October 5). On... MORE
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Islamic State Khorasan Province’s Peshawar Seminary Attack and War Against Afghan Taliban Hanafis
On October 27, a major attack targeting a pro-Afghan Taliban religious seminary took place in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. Although it remains unclaimed, there is strong evidence Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) was behind this attack (Dawn, October 29). In... MORE
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The Trans-Himalayan ‘Quad,’ Beijing’s Territorialism, and India
Introduction Connectivity linkages between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and trans-Himalayan countries have taken on a new hue with the recent Himalayan ‘Quadrilateral’ meeting between China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal (MOFA (PRC), July 27). Often referred to as a “handshake across the Himalayas,” China’s... MORE
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Islamic State War Returnee Jailed for Life in India—Subahani Haja Mohideen
In late September, a special Indian National Investigating Agency (NIA) counter-terrorism court in Ernakulam, Kerala, sentenced Islamic State (IS) terrorist Subahani Haja Mohideen (a.k.a. Abu Jasmine al-Hindi) to life imprisonment (NIA, September 28; The Hindu, September 28). He was one of the early Indian-origin extremists... MORE