Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 18, 2021 The events that the governments of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have been increasingly dreading in recent weeks have begun to happen. The Afghan government has fallen to the Taliban and despite the Central Asian governments having had years to contemplate and plan for such an occurrence,
By Jonny Tickle RT / August 17, 2021 The capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban is “another American scam against Muslims.” That’s according to Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, who suggested that the terrorist group is controlled by Washington. Speaking on a video posted by one of his sons, Adam, Kadyrov urged everyone
By Mike Eckel Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 17, 2021 Chaos enveloped Kabul’s main airport, with thousands of Afghans frantically rushing to flee Taliban fighters while U.S. Marines sought to provide security for American diplomats and allies being evacuated. Across town outside the Russian Embassy on August 16, it was a different scene: Taliban fighters taking
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 11, 2021 Russia completed joint military exercises with troops from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on August 10 as the Taliban gain control of much of northern Afghanistan bordering Moscow’s Central Asian allies. The war games began last week, involving about 2,500 Russian, Tajik, and Uzbek troops at a training ground in Tajikistan
By Ron Synovitz RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 6, 2021 With the Taliban in control of more than half of all districts in Afghanistan, promises made by Taliban political negotiators in Doha appear to be falling by the wayside. The movement’s so-called Political Affairs Commission in Doha had vowed in a February 2020 peace deal with the
Mumin Ahmadi Mullorajab Yusufi Nigorai Fazliddin July 27, 2021 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty DUSHANBE — When the Taliban captured a strategically important security checkpoint near Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan last month, it assigned a Tajik militant to raise the Taliban flag on the site. The militant goes by the alias Mahdi Arsalon and has a
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 22, 2021 Central Asia has long advertised itself as the crossroads of the Eurasian continent — a region that, with development, could be an important transit hub for shipping goods from east to west and from north to south. The Asian Development Bank’s Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation
By RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service July 16,2021 BISHKEK — The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry has appealed to authorities in neighboring Tajikistan to facilitate the passage to their common border of hundreds of ethnic Kyrgyz who fled Afghanistan amid a major Taliban surge that is raising security concerns in neighboring former Soviet republics. The ministry also said on July 15 that
Reid Standish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 14, 2021 As the security situation in Afghanistan worsens, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has begun a high-profile tour of Central Asia that analysts say is an effort by Beijing to boost its interests in the region. The weeklong visit to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan comes as the