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Speaking at a meeting of the Russian government, Russian President Vladimir Putin said for the first time that "radical Islamists" were behind the March 22 terrorist attack in Moscow, but he otherwise reaffirmed his previous claim that Kyiv may have somehow been involved and suggested that Washington was trying to cover it up, The Moscow Times reported on March 25.

Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan: Kremlin Declines To Acknowledge ISKP Responsibility for Moscow Attack

Pakistan

Pakistan struck suspected Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, positions in Afghanistan's eastern border provinces of Khost and Paktika days after militants conducted a March 16 suicide attack in Pakistan’s northwest that killed seven soldiers, including two officers, AP reported on March 18. 

Afghanistan, Pakistan: Pakistan Strikes Suspected Militants in Afghanistan After Deadly Attack

Bangladesh

India

Social Issues

India's Ministry of Home Affairs issued the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law that will streamline the process of granting citizenship to some undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Hindustan Times reported on March 11.

India: Government Announces Implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act

Canada

United Kingdom

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a March 7 security alert warning of "reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow," hours after Russia's Federal Security Service disrupted a plot allegedly by a cell of the Afghanistan-based Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP, to attack a synagogue in Moscow, Reuters reported on March 8.

Russia: U.S. Warns of Extremist Plot Hours After Russia Disrupts Islamic State Plot

China

Energy

The Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company's oil extraction project in northern Afghanistan has increased Afghanistan's daily output of crude oil to more than 1,100 metric tons (around 9,300 barrels), Voice of America reported on Feb. 6. 

Afghanistan: Chinese Oil Extraction Project Boosts Crude Output, But Faces Challenges

A recently released U.S. State Department Integrated Country Strategy document for Afghanistan approved in October 2023 suggests the United States may be exploring a consular return to Afghanistan and a shift toward greater, though still narrow, engagement with the Afghan Taliban, Voice of America reported on Feb. 1.

Afghanistan: U.S. Potentially Exploring Change in Strategy With Afghan Taliban

China’s President Xi Jinping on Jan. 30 received the credentials of the Afghan Taliban’s envoy to Beijing alongside ambassadors from several other countries, Agence France-Presse reported on Jan. 31.

Afghanistan: China's President Receives Afghan Taliban Envoy

Afghan Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund met with Pakistani politician Fazlur Rehman in Kabul, Afghanistan, in a bid to alleviate bilateral tensions amid continuing Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attacks in Pakistan and Pakistan's mass deportation of Afghan migrants in recent months, AP reported on Jan. 8.

Afghanistan, Pakistan: High-Level Meeting Aims to Lower Heightened Tensions

Snapshots

Emergency services vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following a shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, Russia, on March 22, 2024. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

While the attack was likely conducted by Islamist extremists or North Caucasian groups, the Kremlin will nonetheless use the mass casualty incident to further villainize Ukraine and the West, and expand its war efforts against Kyiv.

What To Make of the Deadly Terrorist Attack in Moscow

Assessments

Afghan refugees arrive at the Chaman border crossing in Pakistan before departing for Afghanistan on Nov. 4, 2023. 

Islamabad's push to send Afghan migrants back home will likely worsen security threats in Pakistan, while further destabilizing Afghanistan and potentially the broader region.

The Implications of Pakistan's Deportation Drive and New Cross-Border Travel Policy

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Cyber

What Q3 security risks should companies expect and prepare for?

Essential Geopolitics: An Overview of RANE's Q3 Forecast

Qatar

Qatar's then deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (center), speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Washington D.C. on Feb. 10, 2023. 

The meeting suggests the Taliban may be willing to compromise on some issues, but such talks are unlikely to yield significant change in Afghanistan anytime soon. 

What to Make of the Rare Meeting Between the Taliban’s Leader and Qatar's Prime Minister

What risks does the Taliban face as the fighting season begins?

Essential Geopolitics: Recent Security Developments in Afghanistan

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Central Asia is reemerging as a key region for trans-Eurasian trade, but not without complications.

Applied Geopolitics: Central Asia's Geopolitical Challenges

Afghanistan's acting Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, (L) and China's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, (R) attend a press conference to announce an oil extraction contract with a Chinese company in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 5, 2023.

China's investment in Afghanistan may be modest, but it is key to the South Asian nation's economic recovery.

The Future of Chinese Investment in Afghanistan

Learn how the rise of the extremist group Islamic State Khorasan Province is plaguing Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Essential Geopolitics: The Implications of Deteriorating Security in Afghanistan and Pakistan

A delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with a delegation led by Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26, 2022.

Washington remains unlikely to substantially increase its economic involvement in the country, despite Islamabad's efforts to expand the countries' security-focused relationship.

After a Rocky Few Years, Pakistan Tries to Mend Ties With the U.S. 

A look at counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan a year after the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces.

Essential Geopolitics: An Afghanistan Security Briefing

A 9/11 commemoration on Sept. 11, 2021, in New York. The risk of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan lives on despite more than two decades of U.S. efforts to quash it including the recent killing of al Qaeda mastermind Ayman al-Zawahiri.

In light of the 21st anniversary of 9/11, we re-feature two recent analyses on the state of Afghanistan today.

Afghanistan and Terrorism 21 Years After 9/11

Columns

On Security

A Taliban fighter (L) frisks men at a checkpoint after a blast during Friday prayers Sept. 2, 2022, in Gazargah mosque in Herat. Foreign states' limited abilities to counter terrorist groups in Afghanistan may allow the extremist threat there to swell again.

Foreign states' limited abilities to counter terrorist groups in Afghanistan may allow the extremist threat there to swell again.

Why Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan Could Be Poised for a Resurgence

<p>Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South Asia bordering China, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Spanning over 652,000 square miles, the majority-Muslim country&#39;s geography can be divided into the highlands, the northern plains and the southwestern plateau. Mountains are Afghanistan&#39;s dominant geographic feature, with the Hindu Kush range running at a southwestern angle and roughly dividing the country in half. The four most important cities are the capital Kabul in the east, Kandahar in the south, Herat in the west, and Mazar-i-Sharif in the north. Because of its location, the country functions as a bridge between energy-rich Central Asia and energy-deficient South Asia. Afghanistan&#39;s primary geographic challenge is resisting the intervention of outside powers while also maintaining authority over a mostly rural society spread across a rugged landscape. Afghanistan&#39;s location at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent has historically invited external actors, resulting in a country containing diverse languages, cultures and ethnicities. Indeed, Afghan society includes significant populations of Pashtun, Tajiks, Turkmens, Uzbeks and Hazaras. Each of these groups share populations in a neighboring country, encouraging external involvement. The borders of modern-day Afghanistan were drawn during the 19th century to carve out a space between the British and Russian empires. Afghanistan&#39;s most contentious boundary is with Pakistan and is called the Durand Line. Afghanistan disputes the border, claiming that its true boundary should absorb Pakistan&#39;s Pashtun-majority region. This fuels the antagonism between the two countries and plays a role in Afghanistan&#39;s broader challenge of asserting sovereignty as outside actors try to advance their own interests.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan: Kremlin Declines To Acknowledge ISKP Responsibility for Moscow Attack

Afghanistan, Pakistan: Pakistan Strikes Suspected Militants in Afghanistan After Deadly Attack

India: Government Announces Implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act

Russia: U.S. Warns of Extremist Plot Hours After Russia Disrupts Islamic State Plot

Afghanistan: Chinese Oil Extraction Project Boosts Crude Output, But Faces Challenges

Afghanistan: U.S. Potentially Exploring Change in Strategy With Afghan Taliban

Afghanistan: China's President Receives Afghan Taliban Envoy

Afghanistan, Pakistan: High-Level Meeting Aims to Lower Heightened Tensions

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