Abubakar Siddique, a journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, specializes in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan.
In one of the largest military deployments to the Persian Gulf in decades, the United States is building up its forces after President Donald Trump threatened strikes on Tehran if it fails to negotiate a nuclear agreement.
In one of the deadliest attacks in years, a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people during an attack on a Friday prayers congregation in a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan has used violence and political repression to stamp out a decades-old insurgency in Balochistan Province. The largest-ever attacks in the region have called into question that strategy.
As the United States expands its military presence in the Middle East amid growing expectations of a strike against Iran, countries around the Middle East are bracing for another conflict in the region.
Two months ago, Afghanistan sealed its eastern border with neighboring Pakistan soon after Islamabad shut down all routes into the landlocked country. But the longest border closure is now wreaking economic havoc in both countries.
Escalating tensions between Islamabad and Kabul are threatening the interests of China, the dominant economic player in the region.
Tajikistan, the only Central Asian country that publicly opposed the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, is now attempting to mend fences with the hard-line Islamist group.
After a devastating war with Israel exposed the weakness of its air force, Iran is reportedly turning to China for advanced military hardware. But Beijing’s reluctance -- and Moscow’s inaction -- highlight the limits of Tehran’s alliances and the depth of its strategic isolation.
Russia will soon teach high school students how to build and fly drones, which have become a key weapon in the war between Moscow and Kyiv.
Women in Pakistan are protesting the killing of a 17-year-old social media influencer. On June 3, police in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said they arrested a 22-year-old man for killing Sana Yousaf a day earlier.
Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers have detained several Islamic clerics. Most of those incarcerated have publicly criticized the Taliban government or offered advice on how to change or improve vital policies.
The arrest of Mahrang Baloch, leader of a civil rights movement in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province, draws attention to why members of the beleaguered Baluch ethnic minority are drawn to her message of accountability for rights abuses in her resource-rich homeland.
Some 200,000 Afghans are stuck in limbo amid uncertainty over their immigration to the United States after the Trump administration suspended the government’s resettlement program.
A new immigration policy in Iran is depriving undocumented Afghans of accessing healthcare, education and even housing.
Attacks targeting security forces are increasing in frequency and lethality in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, where a separatist militant group has adopted new tactics.
The rival South Caucasus neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan look set to finalize a historic peace deal after agreeing on the final text of a treaty that would end more than three decades of hostilities.
Hundreds of Pakistani troops engaged in a tense confrontation with a similar number of militants on March 12 over more than 200 hostages a day after a separatist group hijacked a train in a remote region of southwestern Pakistan.
The arrest of an Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) militant who is suspected of helping plan an attack against the U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2021 marks an upturn in strained ties between Washington and Islamabad.
Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban rulers have banned education and most jobs for Afghan women, who are also barred from parks, gyms, and bathhouses. With such constraints, Afghan women are furious after photos and videos emerged of an American porn actor visiting their country.
Saudi Arabia is hosting talks between Russia and the United States to end the war in Ukraine. Experts see the event as part of Riyadh’s effort to assume a central role in international diplomacy.
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