James Durso: Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, recently declared he will defeat the Taliban “no matter the odds.” For Massoud to mount a military threat to the Taliban, he would need the cooperation of the Central Asian republics, Iran or Pakistan (among others) to do the job. However, Afghanistan’s
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Farangis Najibullah Khursand Khurramov September 22, 2024 Central Asian countries are taking steps to broaden relations with their southern neighbor, the Taliban-led Afghanistan, despite the hard-line group’s increasingly restrictive policies, particularly toward women. Kyrgyzstan removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations earlier this month, Turkmenistan resumed work with Afghanistan
By Navbahor Imamova VOA News September 18, 2024 Termez, Uzbekistan — Afghans longing for closer connections with the outside world are finding an outlet in the border city of Termez, where neighboring Uzbekistan invites them to visit a new international trade center aimed at boosting regional trade and creating business opportunities. “It’s uplifting to be here, as
8am: One analysis suggests that given the developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, Western powers, especially the U.S., may be seeking to exploit al-Qaeda and other Central Asian militant groups to undermine Russian interests. After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. significantly weakened al-Qaeda and eliminated many of its senior leaders, but it either did not
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 11, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and neighboring Turkmenistan on Wednesday marked the resumption of work on a long-delayed gas pipeline designed to run through the two countries, Pakistan and India. The estimated $10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, or TAPI, project is designed to annually transport up to 33 billion cubic meters of
By Masood Farivar VOA News September 7, 2024 Washington — Shunned by the West for over three years, Afghanistan’s Taliban scored a diplomatic victory of sorts this week when the small Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan quietly removed the group from its list of banned terrorist organizations. The move underscores warming ties between the Taliban, in
Michael Hughes: The CIA claims it established a back channel with the Taliban to cooperate on operations against anti-Western terrorist groups, while suggesting dire warnings of Afghanistan becoming a terrorist sanctuary are overblown. The narrative has been spun harder recently, undeniably for political purposes ahead of a presidential election, but the covert agency’s assertions are
Afghanistan International: Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday, August 21, that it has officially recognised a Taliban diplomat as the Chargé d’Affaires of the Afghan Embassy in the country. The ministry stated that the appointment of Mohammad Rahman Rahmani is significant for the development of relations between the two nations. Last month, Turkmenistan,
VOA News: Military spending is surging in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, a development officials link to regional conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, although experts doubt the buildup will increase stability. While Russia was the dominant arms supplier to these countries for more than three decades, other countries including Turkey, China
Ariana: The risk of penetration of radical ideology from Afghanistan into the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is increasing, said Rustam Emomali, chairman of Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament. Addressing the Council of the Parliament Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Almaty, Emomali said that more than 1,000 religious