Free Republic

The organization, CSTO, is a Russian-led security alliance that includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan “Radicals from Central Asia have accounted for a notable share of recent Islamic State-inspired or -directed plots and attacks in the United States, Europe, Turkey, and Iran,” Lucas Webber and Riccardo Valle wrote in a Hudson Institute analysis last year. In September 2022, ISKP – which vehemently opposes Russia’s support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria – claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul which left six dead. Despite repeatedly warnings from foreign sources – including the U.S....

The Taliban leaders are desperately looking for global recognition and ties with world powers, while China under Xi aims to exploit the war-ravaged country for its economic interests. Therefore, the China-Taliban relationship seems symbiotic. However, looking at the Taliban’s past, the future of this new-found bonhomie looks bleak China is in Taliban’s Afghanistan. President Xi Jinping is all out to make a deal with the mullahs. And it seems China is rejoicing the exit of the American and its allied forces from the Afghan soil. For China, it is a new ground to advance a unique model of foreign relations...

Islamic State militants have been blamed for a series of deadly attacks in recent years - like this one on a wedding hall in Kabul in 2019 Isis-K - or to give it its more accurate name, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) - is the regional affiliate of Isis (or so-called Islamic State) that is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan. It was set up in January 2015 at the height of IS' power in Iraq and Syria, before its self-declared caliphate was defeated and dismantled...

American Special Forces Kill 170, Capture ISIS Capital in Afghanistan During an operation in Deh Bala, an area in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, American Green Berets worked with three Afghan commando companies to combat ISIS in the region. The US military has confirmed that, during the operation, approximately 170 terrorists were killed in the ISIS capital, and the area is no longer in the hands of terrorists. The joint US-Afghan assault took place between April and was largely completed by early June. Around 600 Green Berets took part in the operation along with their Afghan counterparts. In the end,...