Was Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years a success? It certainly appeared that Xi’s visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, which had both a trade and a political agenda, were successful for the Chinese leader. Can we say the same for France, the EU or Europe? Well, there is not a straight or single answer. And this by itself unveils some of Europe’s grave contradictions on important geopolitical, security and trade issues.
The timing of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Belgrade yesterday was far from accidental: exactly 25 years before, Nato forces bombed the city’s Chinese embassy during Operation Allied Force, the two-and-half month campaign against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Pakistan has paid a huge price of the US-led war on terror that saw over 80,000 Pakistanis martyred
After the US withdrawal, Afghanistan has become a hub of terrorist organisations capable of attacking Europe, Asia and the US, thereby threating regional and international peace.
Thousands of innocent civilians are dying– men, women, children– being bombed to death as they sit in their homes. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian men have been unwillingly drafted into the military, torn from their families, forced to kill each other, and forced to die. Images and videos of cold-blooded genocide plague our news in a constant loop, and our government has the audacity to sit in their comfy little chairs and not only deny what is happening, but to also order more money sent to continue these horrors.
Abstract: More than a year and a half after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, al-Qaida Central has yet to acknowledge the demise of its emir and announce his replacement. After having lost its franchises in Iraq and Syria and after having seen its hegemony on the global jihadi scene hollowed out, the organization now operates without a declared leader, a first in its history. Coupled with the protracted absence of operational success of its own, this track record reinforces the widespread notion that al-Qaida Central has become and will remain irrelevant. However, while the challenges facing the group are real, it should not be written off, as it has proved time and again more resilient than expected and can still count on its longstanding network of affiliates and followers to survive and potentially reverse its fortunes.
When U.S. Patriots shot down an Iranian missile over Erbil on April 15, Kurds wondered why such defenses weren’t activated when they were attacked.
Late in the night of April 13, Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, was shaken by the sound of a Patriot missile battery shooting down an Iranian ballistic missile flying toward Israel. “One of those missiles was a ballistic missile that was taken down in the vicinity of Erbil that was en route toward Israel,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed in a press briefing.
Established In: 2000
Established By: Unknown
Also Known As: JeM
Country Of Origin: Pakistan
Leaders: Maulana Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf Asghar
Key Members: Maulana Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf Asghar
Operational Area: Pakistan, India
Number Of Members: 10,000+
Involved In: Armed attacks, Suicide bomb attacks
Established In: 1985
Established By: Fazlur Rehman Khalil
Also Known As: HUM
Country Of Origin: Pakistan
Leaders: Fazlur Rehman Khalil
Key Members: Fazlur Rehman Khalil, Farooq Kashmiri
Operational Area: Pakistan, India
Number Of Members: Unknown
Involved In: Kidnappings, Hijacking,
Terror organization: Leader of Haqqani Network (HQN) and senior Taliban
Status: Chief of security of the Taliban government. Acting minister for refugees of the Taliban government
Roll: Involved in financing the terror organizations and planning operations for attacks that killed hundreds of people. Also, dealing with the connections with Al Qaeda
The Haqqani Network has appeared to be the most powerful group in the newly formed Taliban government. Unsurprisingly, four of the clan were nominated as cabinet members. Let’s have a look at the insides of this particular terror group.
The Haqqani Network gets its name from the leader of the group, Jalaluddin Haqqani. He first fought the Soviet Army in Afghanistan as a faithful ally of the CIA and the ISI. Eventually, he fought the US and NATO forces while defending North Waziristan, where Pakistan gave him and the entire group a hideout or safe haven.