South East Asia

Sanaullah Ghafari, the 29 year old leader of the Afghan branch of Islamic State, has overseen its transformation into one of the most fearsome branches of the global Islamist network, capable of operations far from its bases in the borderlands of Afghanistan. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday’s mass …

Joint naval exercises among China, Russia, and Iran have significant implications for regional stability, power dynamics, and the existing world order. These exercises demonstrate a deepening of strategic mutual trust and cooperation between the three countries, as well as a potential challenge to the existing power dynamics and world order, …

The United States is assigning responsibility for Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people on the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-Khorasan. A State Department official confirmed to VOA that the U.S. gathered intelligence suggesting IS-Khorasan was planning …

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, Hasht-e-Subh, a prominent independent daily in Afghanistan, has warned that support for the Afghan Taliban government has led …

Following the March 22, 2024 attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Moscow, in which an estimated 137 people were killed and for which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility, major Urdu-language and English-language dailies in Pakistan published editorials arguing that both the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, …

Assessing the economic threat posed by the anti-Western axis Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, and Ebrahim Raisi, his Iranian counterpart, have several things in common. Both belong to a tiny group of leaders personally targeted by American sanctions. Even though neither travels much, both have been to China in recent years. …

For Gulf states, balancing the use of the dollar and the renminbi will become a way of maintaining strategic neutrality amid global geopolitical fragmentation. As China’s geo-economic influence expands across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), countries in the region are becoming acutely aware of the risks emanating from …

This arrangement is economically beneficial but exposes Russia to security risks. The fact that Friday night’s terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall venue in Moscow was committed by Tajik migrants has made some wonder whether it’s time for Russia to close its open border policy with Central Asia. Citizens …

China confirmed a meeting between a Foreign Ministry official and Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha as Beijing seeks a wider role in the region. China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed a meeting between Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian and the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Qatar over the …

Latest Developments The naval forces of China, Russia, and Iran are conducting a four-day trilateral drill in the Gulf of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean that started on March 12. The drill’s spokesperson, Admiral Mostafa Tajaddini, stated that the drill is meant to improve trade, confront piracy and terrorism, …