Muqtada al-Sadr: Iraq’s kingmaker in uncertain times

Al-Sadr’s party controls 70 of a total 329 parliamentary seats in Iraq and the movement has a large base across country.

Muqtada al-Sadr remains one of Iraq’s most influential political figures and plays a pivotal role when it comes to the country’s future. He is currently considered the kingmaker, but it remains unclear if he can form a government with stability.

In the latest elections, al-Sadr’s party obtained 70 of a total of 329 parliamentary seats – a significant increase compared with the result of 2018, when his movement won 54 seats.

ISIL attack on Iraqi village kills 11 ‘defenceless civilians’

Police said the ISIL attackers used several vehicles and semi-automatic guns in their attack.

At least 11 people have been killed and others wounded in an ISIL (ISIS) attack on a village in Diyala province in eastern Iraq, according to the country’s security forces.

The attack on Tuesday targeted “defenceless civilians” in the village of al-Hawasha, near the town of Muqdadiya, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

US military exit from Syria unlikely anytime soon, officials say

Speculation has been rife American forces would withdrawal from Syria after the Afghanistan pullout in an effort to end ‘forever wars’.

The United States will not be withdrawing its roughly 900 troops from northeast Syria any time soon, despite mounting speculation it would do so following its much-maligned August pull-out from Afghanistan, according to officials with knowledge of the Biden administration’s plans.

How AUKUS And US Retreat From Afghanistan Will Change South Asia’s Strategic Landscape – OpEd

At another level, for two dissimilar reasons, Afghanistan and AUKUS will reshape the strategic landscape of Asia and the US’s Indo-Pacific.

First, the US’s policy towards Afghanistan and South, South-west and Central Asia has been poorly conceived. Unable to influence the hard-line Taliban regime, Washington now suddenly hopes that regional powers, including India, Russia, Turkey and Afghanistan’s neighbours – Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – will sort out the strategic mess created by its decision to quit Afghanistan. All these countries fear that Afghanistan-based terrorists will destabilise their territories and regional backyards.

AUKUS: Security Implications For China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation And Good Ocean Governance In South China Sea – Analysis

When Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States formed the AUKUS on 15 September 2021, many countries in the world have raised serious concerns that this trilateral arrangement can further heighten existing security tensions in the Indo-Pacific because of AUKUS’ expressed intention to assertively counter China’s growing political power in the region. Like the QUAD or the Quadrilateral Agreement of US, Australia, India and Japan, AUKUS can be viewed as another containment approach by Western powers and their allies in the Indo-Pacific to strategically gang-up against China in their attempt to prevent Beijing from expanding its political influence in Asia and beyond.

Pakistan: TTP And Insidious Intent – Analysis

On October 20, 2021, two soldiers and two Police officers were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in the Bajaur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

On September 30, 2021, two persons, including a Pakistan Army Captain and a TTP ‘commander’ Khawaza Din aka Sher Khan were killed during an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in the Tank District of KP. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), after receiving information about the presence of TTP terrorists in the area, the Security Forces (SFs) were conducting an operation.

Turkish-backed factions outmaneuver Syrian jihadist group in Idlib

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in north Syria announced a series of mergers recently, derailing plans by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to seek rapprochement with some of the factions affiliated with the Syrian National Army.

The Azm Operations Room, which consists of a number of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions, recently announced the merger of six FSA factions with the new Third Legion.

Russian Foreign Policy Expert Mirzayan: Despite Common Interests, Russia Has Been Burned By Iranian Ingratitude And Has No Interest In Acting As Iran’s Spearhead Against Turkey

During a four-day visit to Russia, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, discussed with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ways of strengthening military-technical cooperation between the two countries. Bagheri was particularly interested in new Russian hardware now that international restrictions on arms supplies to the Islamic Republic have expired. Bagheri termed defense interaction with Moscow unprecedentedly wide in scale, and explained that Iran at this stage is interested in the implementation of previously concluded agreements with Russia covering the supply of fighters, training aircraft and military helicopters.

Accusing HTS of lies |” Abu Muslim al-Shishani” threatens to attack HTS headquarters in al-Shahel and die with dignity instead of killed in prison

The issue of Abu Muslim al-Shishani” has come to the surface via an audio recording where he accused HTS with lie and deception in a bid to dismantle his faction after demanding them to hand their weapons and deport Idlib.

Abu Muslim al-Shishani said he doesn’t want to enter in clashes al-Mujahedeen and that the HTS has repeatedly asked for leaving Idlib and hand over the weapons on nullified charges for his and his group of sheltering criminals of ISIS.

He refuted such charges and called on members of the HTS to not believe their leaders and not to accept fighting against his group. He also affirmed that he wouldn’t accept their demands and if any of his headquarter in al-Shahel are attacked and he will defend himself and die in dignity instead of being humiliated in the HTS prisons like what has happened with other Jihadists.