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Latest Articles about Afghanistan
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Russian Anxiety About Central Asia Becomes Palpable
Moscow’s anxieties about Central Asia and its position there are becoming increasingly visible. And renewed charges of Russian imperial ambitions in the region and elsewhere clearly sting the Kremlin. Thus, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov felt obliged to denounce “allegations” about his country’s imperial ambitions, claiming,... MORE
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To Afghanistan Not Syria? Islamic State Diverts Tajik Fighters South
In February, the Iranian government extradited five members of the same family originating from Hamadoni district, in southern Tajikistan, back to their home country (Radio Ozodi, March 2). Abdulfayz Vazirov, 33, and his sister Mohira Salimova, 32, left Tajikistan for Russia in the summer of... MORE
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Moscow’s Double Game in Afghanistan
With multiple global crises competing for urgent public attention, it is not surprising that Western media and governments have failed to keep pace with Russia’s double game in Afghanistan. But in fact, Russian actions there provide a revealing “tutorial” on Moscow’s real approach to the... MORE
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Foreign Fighters and Sectarian Strikes: Islamic State Makes Gains in ‘Af-Pak’ Region
Since its formation nearly two years ago, Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan, known as IS Khorasan, has struggled to maintain a foothold in an ever-competitive jihadist landscape. Its disregard for local sensitivities and a number of setbacks on the battlefield had relegated it to a... MORE
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Briefs
MALI: ISLAMIC STATE CONSIDERS ITS ALTERNATIVES Islamic State (IS) has acknowledged a pledge of allegiance from a fledgling group of Islamist fighters in Mali following several recent cross-border attacks by the group, and as IS itself comes under pressure in Iraq and Syria. On October... MORE
Village Mullah Turned Emir of the Afghan Taliban: An In-Depth Portrait of Haibatullah Akhundzada
Following the announcement of Mullah Muhammad Omar’s death in July 2015, the defunct Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s reign rested with his powerful deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, amid internal conflict and contestation over leadership. Although he had been leading the Afghan Taliban as de facto... MORE
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Uzbekistan Determined to Improve Relations With Its Neighbors
Uzbekistan’s diplomats may never have been quite as busy as Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov has been in just the past several weeks. In addition to attending or hosting a series of routine meetings, Kamilov has also become a goodwill ambassador for Uzbekistan’s interim president, Prime... MORE
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Security Situation Along Afghan-Tajik Border Alarms Regional Powers
Two high-ranking Russian security officials—General Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Security Council of Russia, and General Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary general of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—recently paid official visits to Tajikistan within days of one another. Generals Patrushev and Bordyuzha met with... MORE
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Our Kind of Warlord: Afghanistan’s Deal With Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Hizb-e Islami Afghanistan (HIA), one of Afghanistan’s oldest jihadist factions and largest Islamic parties, concluded a comprehensive peace deal with the Afghan government on September 29. Speaker after speaker in the Afghan capital’s grand Arg presidential palace declared the deal “historic,” a milestone for restoring... MORE