Latest Articles about South Asia
Umar Mansoor: The Mastermind of the Peshawar School Attack
The targeting of children at the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014 by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has heralded a new era of terrorism in Pakistan. The brutal and coldblooded murder of 141 people, most of them students in the ninth grade, is... MORE
The Pakistani Taliban after the Peshawar School Attack
The dramatic December 16 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar by the Fazlullah faction of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP-F) brought renewed global attention to the TTP, a grouping of more than 40 separate terrorist and militant organizations. The attack was carried out by six... MORE
Al-Qaeda’s Talented Smuggler: Abd al-Rahman al-Juhni
Despite the political rhetoric that al-Qaeda has been decimated, the organization’s core leadership remains a potent threat, as demonstrated by the emergence of the Khorasan Group, a cadre of operatives from parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. An intricate smuggling network spanning large swaths of territory... MORE
Putin’s Passage to India: Where Did It Lead?
Russian President Vladimir Putin termed his recent trip to India “productive” and “positive.” Indeed, twenty agreements were signed with India, pertaining mainly to economic issues, energy supplies and arms sales (Kremlin.ru, December 11). Thus, Russian petroleum giant Rosenft will sell ten million tons (200,000 barrels... MORE
Uzbekistan Seeks to Reinvigorate Its Diplomatic Clout in the Region (Part Two)
Since the fall of 2014, Tashkent has been boosting diplomatic engagement with its neighbors (see Part One in EDM, October 3). In particular, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov met with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan in Dushanbe on September 11 (press-service.uz September 13, 2014), and visited... MORE
Assessing China’s Afghan Peace Play
Breaking with decades of distancing itself from Afghanistan’s various armed conflicts, the Chinese government has offered to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan national government and the Afghan Taliban insurgency movement. On November 29, Sun Yuxi, China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, for the first time... MORE
Lashkar-e-Zil: Al-Qaeda’s ‘Shock and Awe’ Force
One effect of the rise of the Islamic State organization is that its rival al-Qaeda has had to try harder to attract global attention, funding, and recruits. The establishment of a new al-Qaeda branch, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, is one major step taken by... MORE
The Maldives-Syria Connection: Jihad in Paradise?
The Maldives, the Muslim-majority archipelago country in the Indian Ocean, is going through a tumultuous time, facing increasing Islamist activities at home, an exodus of radicalized youth to join the jihad in Syria and a growing domestic clamor for the implementation of Shari’a law. This... MORE
Sino-Indian Joint Military Exercises: Out of Step
The Indian and Chinese militaries will participate in joint counter-terrorism exercises on November 16–27, in the western Indian city of Pune. The exercises will quickly follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to India in September, which was intended as an economic summit with Indian... MORE
Apocalyptic Jihadist: Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent Chief Aasim Umar
Following years of futile attempts and intermittent incitements to South Asia’s teeming Muslim communities, the transnational terrorist group al-Qaeda finally formalized its operational presence in the region on September 3, 2014, by announcing the formation of a dedicated jihadist wing called Qaedat al-jihad fi Shabhi... MORE