Author: M Barbu

Amid escalation in Idlib, residents fear renewed Russian-backed offensive

Syrian government forces have stepped up their attacks against Idlib, causing civilian casualties as Russian warplanes continue to raid different areas of northwestern Syria on an almost daily basis.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sept. 7 that “a woman succumbed to her wounds sustained in artillery shelling carried out by the Syrian regime forces on al-Dabbit neighborhood in Idlib city. One of the fired shells also targeted a swimming pool and park located on the outskirts of the eastern city of Idlib, killing two and wounding five others.”

How MSF is fighting COVID-19 in Yemen

The war in Yemen is fueling a massive humanitarian crisis

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is seeing a dramatic influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization in Aden and many other parts of the country.

“We are urging all medical humanitarian organizations already present in Yemen to rapidly scale up their COVID-19 emergency response,” said Raphael Veicht, MSF head of mission in Yemen. “International donors who cut their humanitarian funding to Yemen must also act quickly. All aspects of the COVID-19 intervention are lacking and need greater international support, from public health messaging, to vaccinations, to oxygen therapy—support is needed across the board.”

The Taliban’s Comeback Is a Conundrum for Iran

No one in the Iranian government was sad to see U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan. In fact, Tehran would prefer to have the Taliban next-door than often-hostile Western powers. But Shiite-majority Iran has also been a target of attacks in the past from the Sunni Islamist Taliban, and it worries that if Afghanistan descends into chaos, it could negatively affect Iran’s ability to exert influence and trade with its neighbor—or worse, that the volatility could spill over into Iran. Tehran will have to pull off a delicate balancing act if it’s to benefit from the U.S. and NATO withdrawal.

Afghanistan: Taliban responsible for brutal massacre of Hazara men – new investigation

Taliban fighters massacred nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province last month, Amnesty International said today.

On-the-ground researchers spoke to eyewitnesses who gave harrowing accounts of the killings, which took place between 4-6 July in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district. Six of the men were shot and three were tortured to death, including one man who was strangled with his own scarf and had his arm muscles sliced off.

Resurgent Taliban And Implications For Central Asia – Analysis

The dramatic siege of Afghanistan by the Taliban has posed serious questions about the stability, security, geostrategy, and geopolitics of the Central Asia Republics (CARs). A recent UN report highlights the presence of over 10,000 foreign fighters from the neighbouring countries of Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China in Afghanistan, most of whom are in the ranks of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State in the Khorasan Province (ISKP). In addition, the presence of Central Asian terrorist groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), Jamaat Ansarullah, and others in Afghanistan have heightened the fears of the current turmoil in Afghanistan spilling over into the CARs.

Bawar Ismail: Nej, Sverige är inte IS-kvinnornas hem

På måndag eftermiddag landade ett plan med tre IS-kvinnor och deras barn på Arlanda flygplats. Och genast vill regeringen få oss tro att Sverige är förpliktigat att ta emot dessa “utvisade” IS-fångar, att det faktiskt är vårt ansvar och att vårt rättsväsende kommer att skipa rättvisa.

Als das “Jahrhundert des Terrorismus” begann

Man kann den 11. September 2001 als eigentlichen Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts betrachten. Am Nachmittag begleitete eine “ZiB”-Sondersendung die Terroranschläge in den USA. Am Abend spielten Depeche Mode in der Wiener Stadthalle eines der besten Konzerte, das ich je besuchte. Die Welt stand im Schock, doch ahnte da noch kaum jemand, wie sehr die Ereignisse dieses Tages die folgenden Jahrzehnte beeinflussen würden.