A rigorous audit of all votes cast in Afghanistan’s recent presidential elections has resumed following a 48 hour suspension due to irregularities in certain Afghan electoral organizations and a disagreement in certain technical aspects of the audit. The differences have at least ostensibly been resolved, and the nearly 200 teams of auditors have resumed their…
Tajik Minister of Transport and Roads Hayrullo Asozodas announced that his country, along with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, have agreed to the final set of terms that would precede the construction of a multinational railway that would connect Tajikistan and Turkmenistan by way of Afghanistan. The railway project has been in the works since 2013, when…
US President Obama has decided to increase sanctions against Russia by targeting large banks that support large energy and defense firms. Instead of targeting individuals connected with Russian support of operations in Ukraine and Putin’s inner circle, this new move is far more sweeping. According to White House statements, it will not cut off entire…
Southeastern Afghanistan was shaken yesterday by a car bomb which struck a market in Paktika Province, obliterating more than twenty shops, killing at least 89 and wounding approximately 40 others. The attack, which took place in the Orgun district of Paktika, does not appear to have been targeted in the same way as recent car…
Separatist militias in the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk have retreated to fortified barricades in anticipation of advancing government forces through the eastern provinces. Key bridges into the towns have been blown up, and separatist leaders complain of having been abandoned by Russia. Ukrainian government officials said that they succeeded in sealing the previously…
The already caustic Russia-Ukraine relationship has worsened yet again as a Ukrainian military offensive ripped into areas of the country’s east plagued by fighting and partially controlled by pro-Russia rebels. The violence, which had ostensibly drawn to a halt, albeit only temporarily as the two sides agreed to a cease fire, has erupted anew with…
A military offensive long planned by the Pakistani military in the wake of months of stalled talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) Group, which frequently hides the mountains of Northern Waziristan, took place yesterday. The operation, entitled “Zarb-e-Azb,” has driven TTP militant forces across the border into Afghanistan, additionally creating large numbers of refugees who have…
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine are increasingly composed of trained Central Asian militants, according to a new article by RFE/RL. Photographs taken by Reuters on June 22 in Siversk in Donetsk show a native of Uzbekistan as a member of a pro-Russian militia there. On June 24, a spokesman for the “Donetsk People’s Republic” said that…
In January, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif reached out to one of the most well-organized Pakistani Taliban groups, the Tehrik-i-Taliban (or TTP) to begin peace dialogues. Calling for a ceasefire between the near-daily clashes with government forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (FATA), the talks were quickly derailed after TTP spokesman…
The Crimean referendum election on Russian annexation took place yesterday. With more than 50% of the vote accounted for, exit polls demonstrate that an overwhelming majority (close to 95%) of Crimeans supports the secession from Ukraine, as reported by the head of referendum committee Mikhail Malishev However, instead of defusing tensions, the referendum has merely…
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