Manish Rai

The Taliban’s announced 33-member interim cabinet is exclusively Taliban, and almost all ministers are of Pashtun ethnicity. Women have no positions in this new setup. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs has been dissolved. And the sinister Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has been re-established. This clearly illustrates that the […]

The Taliban now control almost the whole of Afghanistan including the capital city, Kabul, almost two decades after they were driven out by US troops. It was widely expected that after the United States’ complete withdrawal the Taliban will make significant territorial gains. But no one expected that it will happen at that fast pace […]

Kurdistan is back in the news. Military clashes broke out at the beginning of this month between the Kurdistan Development Party (KDP) – the region’s biggest political party – and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This has sparked debate as to whether these two Kurdish giants are heading towards fully-fledged confrontation. The Kurdistan Regional […]

The latest round of escalations between Israel and armed groups from Gaza has recently concluded. This saw thousands of rockets fired towards Israeli cities and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) responded with overwhelming airstrikes. The biggest group and de-facto ruler of the Gaza Strip — Hamas — received much attention during this flare-up. But it was […]

The US military is rapidly working on its complete withdrawal from Afghanistan and has already closed an important base in volatile Helmand province. Its air force is busy transporting military hardware out of the country. It is estimated that some 1,300 pieces of equipment that can’t be removed will either destroyed or given to the […]

US President Joe Biden has announced plans to pull out all United States troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending the longest war in American history. In Kabul, many fear that Afghan security forces won’t be able to defend the country or even big cities if the Taliban choose to march on after US pullout. […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which was the official name of the Taliban regime before being deposed by the United States in late 2001. The Taliban has always insisted on calling itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In June 2013, when its de-facto embassy in Doha, Qatar was founded, the Taliban insisted on calling it the […]

When the Saudi crown prince, together with the UAE ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed, moved against Qatar in late 2017, the charge sheet against the tiny Gulf state was long. They, along with Bahrain and Egypt, accused their neighbour of backing Iran’s ambitions, and supporting Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. The Arab neighbours of Doha […]

Multiple explosions rocked the Aden International airport shortly after an aircraft landed carrying the newly formed cabinet of the country’s Saudi-backed government. Dozens of casualties were reported and the Yemeni government blamed Houthi rebels for this attack. Recently a power-sharing government was announced in war-torn Yemen consisting of 24 ministers including representatives of the separatist […]

Islamic State claimed responsibility for some major attacks in Afghanistan recently including Kabul University and rocket attacks in the capital Kabul. The terror outfit has carried out some of the most gruesome attacks in recent time, including the infamous complex attack on a Kabul maternity ward in May this year. The Islamic State’s local arm […]