Daud Khattak is a senior international correspondent covering the Near East in RFE/RL’s Central Newsroom. He was previously the managing editor of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal.
Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province has been the scene of a spate of attacks in recent weeks carried out by armed opposition groups that have waged a low-level insurgency against the Taliban in recent years.
The emerging partnerships between Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries are also reshaping the region's security dynamics, which analysts believe may add new strains to relations among states.
China's investments in Pakistan's Balochistan are increasingly at risk as attacks by separatists are on the rise in the impoverished region. The worsening security situation has strained ties between the Iron Brothers, raising concerns over the future of Beijing's investments in Pakistan.
Islamabad has condemned attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi-flagged vessels in the Red Sea. It also warned that any aggressive actions toward Pakistan-flagged vessels or the country's maritime interests would be regarded as a “grave threat” that may result in “lawful use of force.”
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan five years ago as international military forces withdrew, the country's economy has sputtered, inflation has spiked, and international investment has all but dried up, leaving ordinary Afghans reliant on remittances from abroad to survive
Thousands of Afghan families, fearing an uncertain future, have begun pouring into Afghanistan amid a fresh push from Pakistan against what officials describe a “crackdown" on undocumented aliens.
The European Union is preparing to host the Taliban in Brussels for the first time for "technical talks" on the repatriation of Afghans despite sharp criticism from rights groups and signs Afghanistan's rulers are cracking down further on women.
The closure of Afghanistan and Pakistan borders since October has severely impacted millions of residents and thousands of businesses.
China remains proactively engaged in finding a lasting solution to the dispute between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. Once allies for decades, Pakistani and the Taliban forces fought bloody clashes last year. What is at stake for China?
From Ukraine to Tehran, asymmetric warfare is redefining the modern battlefield. Superiority is no longer measured solely by jets and naval fleets, but by inexpensive unmanned drones.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says any temporary peace agreement between the United States and Iran must be followed by deeper talks about Tehran’s nuclear stockpiles, missiles and other critical issues.
When US President Donald Trump unexpectedly called on a number of Muslim-majority states to join the Abraham Accords in a social media post suggesting the move could pave the way for a broader peace arrangement with Iran, many responded with uneasy silence.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have been internally displaced by deadly border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months. Among them is a father-of-six who now lives in a tent.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif begins a three-day visit to China on May 23 as tensions in the Middle East remain high. Analysts say Sharif is expected to push for renewed urgency in US-Iran negotiations.
The United Arab Emirates has deported thousands of Pakistanis, many of them Shi’a Muslims, since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign of Iran on February 28, according to a Pakistani lawmaker and media reports in the South Asian country.
Iranian traders are smuggling over 6 million liters of fuel to neighboring Pakistan each day, traders and transporters in the South Asian country told RFE/RL.
Pakistan’s role as a mediator between Washington and Tehran is drawing renewed scrutiny after reports of Iranian aircraft at a Pakistani airbase.
Sources in the Pakistani Taliban told RFE/RL that the group’s leadership has been ordered to relocate from the Afghan capital, Kabul, where it is allegedly based.
Pakistan appears to have achieved a significant diplomatic breakthrough by playing a proactive role in brokering a 14-day cease-fire and setting the stage for the US-Iran talks in Islamabad on February 10.
Pakistan has offered to host talks aimed at bringing the Iran conflict to an end, highlighting the country's strengthened ties in both the Middle East and with Washington.
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