September, 2021

• 2 September

  Iran Tests Upgraded Version Of Mersad Missile Defense System

  

  Iran’s Army tested an upgraded version of the Mersad missile defense system in the country’s central desert. The Mersad-16 homegrown missile defense system fired missiles to shoot down the intended targets. Mersad is a medium-altitude surface-to-air missile system with electronic warfare capabilities. According to General Khoshqalb, the Air Defense Force’s …

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• 2 September

  Houthi Drone Attack On Saudi Arabia’s Abha Airport Wounds 8, Damages Plane

  

  The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen were accused of war crimes on Tuesday after they launched two armed drones targeting Abha airport and a ballistic missile aimed at Najran in the south of the Kingdom. Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones and the missile. Eight people were injured …

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• 2 September

  AfPak Takes On A New Meaning With Rise Of The Taliban – Analysis

  

  Recent attacks on Kabul’s international airport by the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate raise multiple questions as well as the spectre of paradigm shifts in the drivers and expanding geography of political violence. The attacks have called into question the Taliban’s ability to maintain security and keep a lid on the …

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• 2 September

  Afghan Taliban 2.0 Regime In Kabul Is Perceptionally A ‘China-Pakistan-Russia Trilateral Franchise’ – Analysis

  

  The Afghan Taliban 2.0 Regime which zoomed into power in Kabul on August 15 2021 by American default of what I have earlier termed as a geopolitical suicide is perceptionaly a “China-Pakistan-Russia Franchise” facilitated into power in Kabul by this Trilateral and that Afghan Taliban captured power not on the …

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• 2 September

  Qatar Emerges As Power Broker In New Afghanistan – Analysis

  

  After 20 years, the Taliban regained control of Kabul on August 15 and became Afghanistan’s top authority with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following the capture of Kabul, the Taliban appear to be ostensibly adhering to international norms and seeking good relations …

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• 2 September

  Chinese Diplomacy And The Taliban In Afghanistan – Analysis

  

  It is becoming increasingly obvious what kind of superpower China might be. Even as the international community watches the unfolding events in Afghanistan with concern, China has moved quickly to further its interests in the region. For Beijing, it is business as usual. Beijing has been quick to announce that …

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• 2 September

  India And The Taliban – Analysis

  

  The return of the Taliban in an Afghanistan abandoned by both its fleeing President and the US forces infuses a perilous complexity into India’s strategic environment. The US’s chastened retreat, rather than withdrawal, from this embattled land-locked country of over 35 million puts the clock back to the time when …

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• 2 September

  The Roots Of US Failure In Afghanistan – OpEd

  

  The rapid collapse of Afghanistan has led to predictable finger-pointing about who is to blame for “losing Afghanistan.” Both President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, laudably wanted to end the quagmire. Both made blunders. Most recently, under Biden, Trump’s deadline for withdrawal was ignored, a Trump-era crisis response …

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• 2 September

  Afghanistan: Sharp Regression – Analysis

  

  Though just two weeks have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, fear among masses, as expected, has spread like wildfire across Afghanistan, forcing thousands to run towards the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, to escape a dreaded future. Unsurprisingly, the Kabul Airport and its surroundings have …

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• 2 September

  What Afghan Scenario Means For Russian-Iranian Rapprochement – Analysis

  

  The political developments unfolding rapidly in Afghanistan since the Taliban forcibly seized power in the country reveal convergent positions between Russia and Iran on the militia’s takeover. Moscow and Tehran are among the few capitals in the world that did not express deep concern about the Taliban sweeping across Afghanistan’s …

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