By Navbahor Imamova VOA News April 24, 2024 WASHINGTON — Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors are holding out hope that America, based on its pledges at September’s C5+1 summit, will expand its role in this neighborhood. The wish list includes delivering more humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, facilitating the expansion of trade, and combating the threats of terrorism
By Navbahor Imamova VOA News March 27, 2024 WASHINGTON — Russian media and analysts are reporting a spike in hate crimes and violence against migrants from Central Asia following last week’s terror attack on a Moscow concert hall, which has led to the arrests of seven people of Tajik origin. Responsibility for the attack, which killed at
The Taliban-led government is pushing forward with the ambitious Qosh Tepa canal project despite concerns over its impact. The waterway taps the Amu Darya River, a key water source that runs through Afghanistan and Central Asia. While Afghan farmers await a potential agricultural boon, neighboring states Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have expressed concern over possible damage
Ariana: In a meeting with senior military officials, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called Afghanistan the “biggest threat” to the countries of Central Asia and said that the situation in Central Asia is still complicated. He said in the last year, the number of Daesh fighters in Afghanistan has increased by 15 percent. Shoigu added
Akmal Dawi VOA News February 15, 2024 Afghanistan has cleared its outstanding electricity debts to three Central Asian neighbors and is negotiating for an increase in energy supplies, a move that could signal the Taliban government is moving toward economic stabilization. Landlocked Afghanistan relies heavily on energy imports, obtaining more than 70 percent of its
Roshan Noorzai Mohammad Ahmadi VOA News January 31, 2024 WASHINGTON — The Iranian government has traced this month’s twin suicide bombings in Kerman city to ethnic-Tajik fighters of the Islamic State Khorasan Province who, experts say, are “fairly small” in number but play “an important part” in the group’s military activities. The Afghanistan-based branch of the
8am: Over the last decade, Tajikistan’s foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) have brought their homeland under negative limelight on numerous occasions. The most notorious of them all is Gulmurod Khalimov, who became the IS Minister of War after joining the group in 2015. Before becoming a high-ranking terrorist, he served as the head of the special
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service January 9, 2024 Tajik militant Muhammad Sharifov (aka Mahdi Arsalon), who is wanted in Dushanbe on terrorism charges, disappeared in Afghanistan months ago, his relatives and friends said on January 8. After taking over Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban rulers appointed Sharifov, 30, to oversee districts along the Tajik-Afghan border. Fighters of
By RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service December 29, 2023 Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said in a televised interview on December 29 that the Central Asian state’s Security Council had decided to remove the Taliban group now ruling Afghanistan from its registry of terrorist organizations. Smadiyarov said Astana will continue to adhere to United Nations decisions and
8am: The head of the Center for Afghanistan & Central Asia Strategic Studies (ACASS) adds that the concentration of terrorist groups at northern Afghan borders, especially along the border with Tajikistan, and the expansion of drug trafficking, are perennial concerns… Mr. Iskandar also expresses concern about the relocation of migrants expelled from Pakistan to northern