Michael Hughes AOPNEWS May 21, 2022 Although intense infighting has complicated Taliban efforts to quash the resistance in northern Afghanistan, the fragmented opposition will be hard-pressed to expand nationwide without more external assistance, especially as Pakistan steps up support for the radical movement, experts told Afghan Online Press. The Taliban 2.0, in power now for
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS May 13, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in a telephone conversation discussed the perceived boost in terrorist activity within Afghanistan’s borders and agreed to coordinate with neighboring states on a response to the threat. Several international leaders and diplomats have alleged the presence of violent extremist groups
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS April 29, 2022 President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s Security Council that while the situation in Ukraine is the country’s top national security issue, Moscow must also address possible threats emanating from Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central and South Asia. Violence in Afghanistan has been on the rise highlighted by an Islamic State
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS March 31, 2022 During an address to the nation as he faces a no-confidence vote, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attributed his potential demise to the meddling of foreign powers dismayed over his February visit to Russia, and in an apparent slip-of-the-tongue specifically referred to the United States. When the National Assembly
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS March 1, 2022 Three American senators urged the Biden Administration and the World Bank to immediately direct more than $1 billion from a reconstruction trust fund to pay the salaries of health workers and teachers in Afghanistan and inject liquidity into the country’s economy which they said is on the verge of
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS February 2, 2022 Powerful U.S. lawmakers and other influencers in Washington are attempting to pressure the Biden administration into launching “over-the-horizon” airstrikes inside post-NATO Afghanistan amid concerns international terrorist groups are growing stronger by the day. Yet as feared as the terrorist threat is, launching such operations – especially at this point
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS December 14, 2021 President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, during his confirmation hearing told a Senate panel that, if confirmed, he aims to pressure Islamabad to abandon its selective counterterrorism practices. Islamabad has been long criticized for cracking down on anti-government groups such as the TTP
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS November 29, 2021 The World Bank is hoping to tap a multi-billion trust fund that had been reportedly abused by the Ghani administration amid poor oversight as a way of bypassing the Taliban and aiding Afghans who are suffering from economic implosion in the face of winter. The UN and other aid
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS November 17, 2021 The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) is active in every Afghan province because of the Taliban’s inability to stop them, the UN head of mission told the Security Council on Wednesday. “Another major negative development has been the Taliban’s inability to stem the expansion of the Islamic State Khorasan Province,”
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS October 13, 2021 Several Central Asia states have evidence the United States is playing a “destructive” role in the region in the wake of the U.S. troop exit from Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin said on Wednesday at a virtual meeting with counterparts from the Commonwealth of Independent