Afghanistan

Riyadh is looking to expand its relationship with the Taliban, to expand and protect its interests in the region, and counter Iranian influence. In a sign of renewed interest by Saudi Arabia in engaging with the Taliban, the kingdom’s former head of intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal, met with top Taliban …

Turkey’s president told German President Steinmeier that the EU member states should provide swift assistance to Afghanistan’s neighbors to cope with irregular migration. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a call to the European Union to help Afghanistan’s neighbors cope with the Afghan refugee influx, warning against reliving the 2015 …

The Uzbekistan government sent a large consignment of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan on Tuesday, through the recently reopened Hairatan border crossing in northern Balkh province. The consignment of 1,300 tons of aid included food, medicine and clothing and was handed over to Afghan officials on arrival in the country. Attending …

Afghanistan’s new acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi has called for sanctions to be lifted against the Islamic Emirate and said urgent global help is needed to help deal with the “major humanitarian crisis” currently gripping the country. Addressing a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday evening, Muttaqi also …

Disagreements over how to assess the American exodus from Afghanistan have kept the pundits busy these last weeks, even though there wasn’t much to say that hadn’t been said before. For some of them, however, that was irrelevant. Having overseen or promoted the failed Afghan War themselves, all the while …

A group of Afghan pilots are expected to be transferred to a US military base from Uzbekistan this weekend, under a new agreement between the US and Uzbek governments, The Wall Street Journal reports citing people familiar with the matter. The Afghan Air Force pilots, who fled to Uzbekistan after …

The collapse of the American project in Afghanistan may fade fast from the news here, but don’t be fooled. It couldn’t be more significant in ways few in this country can even begin to grasp. “Remember, this is not Saigon,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a television audience on …

At the two ends of Iran’s political spectrum angry voices are being heard in a fierce battle over the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, and especially the question of support for resistance forces in Panjshir Valley. Iran’s Reformists woke up to a stinging editorial Sept. 9 by the hard-line daily Kayhan …

China on Wednesday announced a $31 million aid package for Afghanistan, in what appears to be one of the first new foreign aid pledges for the Taliban-ruled country. The aid will include food, winter weather supplies and COVID-19 vaccines. “China has decided to urgently provide $30.96 million (200 million yuan) …

The onslaughts on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are being likened to Pearl Harbor and the comparison is just. From the point of view of the assailants the attacks were near miracles of logistical calculation, timing, courage in execution and devastation inflicted upon the targets. The Pearl Harbor …