8am: Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, a regional affairs expert, argued that Afghanistan’s neighbors have never viewed the Taliban strategically but have been compelled by geography to maintain ties with the group. According to Rahimi, these countries’ experiences with the Taliban have shown that they cannot trust the group domestically or regionally. Rahimi also stated that the
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service November 18, 2024 One Chinese national was killed and five others, four of them Chinese, were injured in a cross-border attack in Tajikistan’s Zarbuzi Gorge, two sources close to a Tajik investigation told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service on November 18. The incident, which occurred in the southeastern Shamsiddin Shohin district, bordering Afghanistan, has not yet
Khaama: The Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) warned that the risk of terrorism spreading in Central Asia remains persistent. Imangali Tasmagambetov emphasized that the CSTO continues to monitor the challenges and threats emanating from Afghanistan. On Thursday, November 7, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported that Tasmagambetov, referring to Afghanistan, stated that
Ariana: The United States and its allies are making pretexts for resuming their military presence in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Speaking at the Second Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in Minsk, Lavrov said that the US and its allies are trying to destablize the situation in Afghanistan. Earlier, Lavrov had said
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
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
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
Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that on Tuesday evening, it attacked an outpost of the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior in the Karte Naw area of Kabul. The AFF claims that a Taliban commander had been killed and three other Taliban members were injured in the attack. Click here to read more (external
Afghanistan International: Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, reported a significant increase in terrorist groups operating in northern Afghanistan during a security conference in Bishkek. The Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday that during the CIS security chiefs’ meeting in Bishkek, Tashiev underscored the severity of the threat,