Geopolitics
[ CS Monitor ] Afghanistan: How the Taliban won over northern ethnic minorities
When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, they faced stiff resistance across the country’s north from ethnic-based paramilitaries that resented the southern Pashtun militants. That resistance would prove decisive in 2001 when the same ethnic minorities, backed by U.S. air power, ousted the Taliban regime in Kabul. This time around, the Taliban had…
Read More[ UnHerd ] The man who lost Afghanistan
If there was one family in Afghanistan who incarnated the hopes, illusions and failures of the last two decades there, it was the Ghanis. Ashraf, the father, was the country’s last president. A trained anthropologist, he believed in books, and the power of the ideas within them to move the world. His wife, Rula, a…
Read More[ AP ] Taliban allowing ‘safe passage’ from Kabul in US airlift
The Taliban have agreed to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a U.S.-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said Tuesday, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers. Jake Sullivan…
Read More[ AP ] Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs
A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders. The woman, 26-year-old Wu Huan, was on the run to avoid extradition…
Read More[ Mothership ] A glimpse inside an overloaded US military plane with over 600 Afghans fleeing country
The cargo plane, which was one of the many which were able to take off with hundreds of civilians on board, was carrying over five times of its suggested load as it departed. Over 600 Afghans, including women and children, were packed into that space. Some of the other flights may have had an even…
Read More[ Jamestown Foundation ] Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s Latest Merger Enables Renewed Attacks in Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), announced on August 7 that it had merged with a former al-Qaeda-affiliated, anti-state Pakistani jihadist group once led by Ustad Aslam (Umar Media, August 7). It becomes the ninth jihadist group to join the TTP since July 2020. Among the other groups are three TTP splinters, two…
Read MoreTaliban: The war is over in Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, for the Taliban’s political office told Al-Jazeera Mubasher TV that the war is over and that the type of rule and the form of regime will be clear soon. This happens as Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, saying that he wanted to avoid bloodshed – a move…
Read MorePetition to call for UN recognition of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) underway
A petition is started on Change.org by “Nang Si Si Win NUG support group Australia” to call for the recognition of Myanmar’s government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG) by the United Nations General Assembly. When we first encountered the petition, it was around 7000 signed. Currently as of the writing of the article,…
Read More[ Business Insider ] Chinese sleeper agents are trying to enter the UK through a scheme designed for Hong Kongers fleeing the city, report says
– Chinese agents are trying to enter the UK with a visa designed to give refuge to Hong Kongers. – Sources told The Times agents try use the visa introduced after China’s new national security law. – It is not clear if any have been successful, and the UK government said it has a strict vetting process.…
Read More[ The Guardian ] Myanmar duo arrested in New York over plot to kill UN ambassador
Two Myanmar citizens have been arrested in New York state for plotting with an arms dealer in Thailand – who sells weapons to the Burmese military – to kill or injure Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York said on Friday that Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and…
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