South Asia

The U.N. refugee agency is calling on countries to ease bureaucratic requirements and speed up Afghan family reunification procedures.  More than 3.5 million Afghans are displaced inside Afghanistan and many more are displaced across the region in neighboring countries as refugees. U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said it is …

The United States announced Friday an additional 9.6 million doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine are being shipped to Pakistan through the global vaccine-sharing COVAX initiative. The shipment brings to more than 25 million the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Washington to the Pakistani people, said the American Embassy in Islamabad. …

An explosion ripped through a Shi’ite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 50, according to sources at the local Mirwais hospital. The blast went off during Friday prayers, usually attended by large crowds. Pictures and videos shared on social …

In Mosul’s Old City, the rule of the Islamic State group is not a distant memory of horrors long past. On every block are reminders: bombed out houses, piles of rubble and families toiling daily, just to survive.  “An IS family lived over there,” says Sahara Mahmoud, a mother of …

Turkey hosted leaders of Afghanistan’s Taliban government for the first time Thursday, repeating its advice to the Islamist group on the need to form an inclusive government in the war-torn South Asian nation and to ensure Afghan female participation in education as well as public life.    After Thursday’s meeting …

The outcome of Uzbekistan’s October 24 presidential election is not in doubt, but that doesn’t mean no one is paying attention.  U.S. officials will be closely watching for hints to the future of Afghanistan’s northern neighbor and key energy provider as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stands for a second — and …

A new report released by the U.S. military this week revealed that amid chaos at the Kabul airport in August, there was an attempt to hijack a commercial evacuation plane.  “On one occasion after they received an intel tip, five people onboard one of the commercial flights intended to hijack …

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Thursday suspended flights to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, over what the state-run carrier alleged was “heavy-handed” interference by the neighboring country’s ruling Taliban. The suspension came on the same day a Taliban Transport Ministry statement warned it will stop PIA flight operations between Islamabad and the Afghan capital unless the …

China wants to invest billions of dollars in Afghanistan if the Taliban guarantee security for their workers and their assets. This, according to the Taliban’s acting Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Zabihullah Mujahid, who also said his government is ready to deliver. In a television interview with VOA’s Ayesha …

Days after talks to resolve a 17-month military standoff between India and China stalled, the Asian rivals are involved in a new war of words over a recent visit by the Indian vice president to Arunachal Pradesh, a state in eastern India claimed by China. The exchanges indicate deepening tensions …