On March 22, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu declared that Russia will complete the modernization of the missile defense system around Moscow by the end of 2023. He also announced the upcoming deployment of new units: one air defense division, one air defense brigade,... MORE

On February 11, in a speech at the graduation ceremony of an Islamic religious school in Afghanistan’s Khost province, the Taliban’s powerful Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, alleged the organization’s “power monopolization and defamation of the entire [ruling] system have become common.” He did not... MORE

On January 21, Turkmenistani President Serdar Berdymukhamedov issued decrees giving his predecessor and father Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov the title of “National Leader” (Милли лидер) and appointing him chairman of the reformed People’s Council (Halk Maslahaty), restructuring the country’s parliament from a bicameral to unicameral legislative entity... MORE

Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) has espoused a more aggressive propaganda strategy to attract fighters. ISKP is not restricted to the borders of Afghanistan and is targeting new avenues for operations and recruitment. In the... MORE

Sajid Majeed Mir was previously the deputy head of the international operations wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed Pakistan-based militant group. The 44-year-old Mir has been a key player in the LeT, planning the expansion of the group's operations from Kashmir to other parts of... MORE

On August 16, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) published the seventh issue of its Pashto language magazine Khurasan Ghag (Twitter/TheKhorasanDiary, August 16, 2022). Like previous releases, this one was circulated by the Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the ISKP media mouthpiece in the broader South... MORE

On January 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commended Pakistan for maintaining a neutral position in the Russo-Ukrainian war and vowed to fully cooperate with Islamabad in meeting its energy needs. Lavrov expressed his views at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal... MORE

On January 24, 2023, Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) announced that “during [a prisoner named] Ranbir’s stay in jail, he interacted with some arrested militants at various times. Among those he came in contact with were top leaders of Jamatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB)” (dailysun.com, January... MORE

On January 5, two officials from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Naveed Sadiq and Nasir Butt, were killed in Punjab’s Khanewal district. The men were involved in counter-terrorism efforts in the region. Both the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and an obscure militant group, Lashkar-e-Khorasan (Army of Khorasan,... MORE

On December 5, 2022, the G7, European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia began implementing a $60 price cap on Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports (see EDM, December 5, 2022), which China and India quickly capitalized on. Additional ceilings on petroleum products are expected later this... MORE