https://www.scmp.com/rss/325687/feed Latest news and updates on Afghanistan, China relations and the Taliban's return to power after the 20-year war with the US and allies. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com SCMP Sport,Associated Press SCMP Sport,Associated Press An Afghanistan women’s refugee team has been granted eligibility for international competitions, some five years after national team players fled their country’s Taliban rule. The Fifa Council agreed on Tuesday in Vancouver to amend the federation’s rules to allow for the participation of Afghan Women United in official Fifa competitions without the approval of the Islamist Taliban. Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued more than 70 decrees restricting girls’ and... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3351800/fifa-says-afghan-womens-team-can-play-tournaments-without-taliban-approval?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3351800/fifa-says-afghan-womens-team-can-play-tournaments-without-taliban-approval?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:27:24 +0000 Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao While China has begun to put pressure on Iran to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, its statements have been carefully worded, experts say, showing how the prolonged conflict is testing Beijing’s relationship with Tehran. President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week that China wanted an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” and explicitly demanded that the waterway “ remain open to normal passage”, without naming Iran or the US. Speaking at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351707/chinas-calls-open-hormuz-show-limits-its-ties-iran-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351707/chinas-calls-open-hormuz-show-limits-its-ties-iran-experts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Afghanistan’s foreign ministry says Afghans who helped America’s war effort and have been stuck in Qatar in the hope of reaching the United States can safely return to Afghanistan. The statement on Saturday by foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi comes after reports emerged that the Trump administration is in discussions to potentially send 1,100 Afghans who assisted the US during its war in Afghanistan, and relatives of US service members, to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351436/taliban-says-afghans-stuck-qatar-who-helped-us-war-can-safely-return-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351436/taliban-says-afghans-stuck-qatar-who-helped-us-war-can-safely-return-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:09:21 +0000 Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan Risks of conflict in the Gulf of Oman are rising after the US Navy fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, though analysts say both Washington and Tehran have shown a reluctance to prolong the war. US President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed that the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance opened fire on the Touska after its crew reportedly ignored repeated orders to halt. The incident, occurring in the strategic waters connecting the Persian Gulf to the open sea via the Strait of Hormuz, marks... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350738/what-does-us-and-irans-fight-talk-dynamic-mean-their-ceasefire-expires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350738/what-does-us-and-irans-fight-talk-dynamic-mean-their-ceasefire-expires?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:55:42 +0000 Jawad Khalid Jawad Khalid In a world edging dangerously close to a wider war, where weeks of escalation between the United States, Israel and Iran have threatened to spiral into a catastrophic regional conflict, Pakistan has emerged as an unlikely but decisive diplomatic actor. Through sustained backchannel engagement and careful balancing of competing alliances, Islamabad helped bring two deeply distrustful adversaries to a temporary ceasefire, hopefully averting what would be one of the most consequential geopolitical... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3349772/pakistan-has-worlds-attention-now-it-must-focus-inwards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3349772/pakistan-has-worlds-attention-now-it-must-focus-inwards?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Meredith Chen Meredith Chen China has established a third new county in its Xinjiang region, this time along vital transport routes linking the country to South and Central Asia. Analysts said the move underscored Beijing’s focus on governance and security along its far-flung western borders. Sitting in southwestern Xinjiang near the Karakoram Range, Cenling county is a linchpin for China’s frontier security and regional development. Its strategic value stems from its proximity to the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349558/china-has-mapped-out-third-new-county-xinjiang-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349558/china-has-mapped-out-third-new-county-xinjiang-why?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 02:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly murdering unarmed prisoners while serving in Afghanistan, police and local media said following a sweeping war crimes investigation. The Australian Federal Police said they arrested a 47-year-old former Australian soldier, who was widely named in local media as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith. Federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the soldier had been linked to a string of murders while serving... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3349228/decorated-australian-soldier-faces-5-murder-charges-afghan-war-crime-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3349228/decorated-australian-soldier-faces-5-murder-charges-afghan-war-crime-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 06:06:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Samira Muhammadi hopes an international investigation can “extinguish” her pain after a Pakistani bombing killed her son and hundreds of other Afghans in the capital Kabul last month. The March 16 attack hit a drug treatment centre and killed 411 people, according to Afghan officials. A United Nations source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had verified at least 250 killed, with more still missing. “There should be investigations on this … Like me, many mothers lost their sons,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3349110/pakistani-strike-killed-her-son-rehab-now-afghan-mother-demands-answers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3349110/pakistani-strike-killed-her-son-rehab-now-afghan-mother-demands-answers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:14:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Afghanistan aims to increase trade with Central Asian countries to US$10 billion within the next three or four years, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Sunday. Trade with Central Asian countries to Afghanistan’s north came to about US$2.7 billion in 2025, itself a significant increase over previous years, Muttaqi said. He stated Afghanistan’s new trade goal with its neighbours at a “constructive dialogue” meeting in Kabul with representatives from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3349095/afghanistan-wants-us10-billion-trade-deals-central-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3349095/afghanistan-wants-us10-billion-trade-deals-central-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 13:26:29 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An earthquake that struck Afghanistan overnight killed 12 people, including eight members of the same family, a government official and the Afghan Red Crescent Society said on Saturday. A neighbour who helped in rescue efforts said that the eight who died, on the outskirts of Kabul, were a refugee family recently returned from neighbouring Iran. The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8.42pm (1612 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186km (115 miles) at the epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan province,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3349043/afghanistan-quake-kills-12-including-8-family-who-had-just-left-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3349043/afghanistan-quake-kills-12-including-8-family-who-had-just-left-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 12:09:19 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai From glimmering floral-patterned glassware to the vivid colours of intricately designed Persian carpets, artefacts from Iran have captivated visitors to a museum in northern China, where they have avoided the risks of damage in the war waged by the US and Israel. The relics, on display at the Inner Mongolia Museum in the regional capital Hohhot since December, have drawn growing attention since the start of the conflict in the Middle East and highlighted a cultural exchange that has been quietly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348939/time-war-chinese-museums-are-safe-haven-ancient-treasures-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348939/time-war-chinese-museums-are-safe-haven-ancient-treasures-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran. General Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”, said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348861/hegseth-ousts-armys-top-uniformed-officer-even-us-wages-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348861/hegseth-ousts-armys-top-uniformed-officer-even-us-wages-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:23:47 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say. If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing defence deals with Gulf monarchies and attracting investment from them to strengthen its weak economy. This will help finance Pakistan’s military expansion for its envisioned new... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 05:21:16 +0000 Jawad Khalid Jawad Khalid As with any conflict, the war in Iran has driven people to choose sides and adopt partisan positions. This includes the view that, despite the acts of aggression by the US and Israel, the Islamic Republic somehow “deserves” the attacks due to years of regional instability caused by its Axis of Resistance. This is not to suggest that the Iranian regime has always been a victim. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ transgressions through the Quds Force have been well documented. But let’s be... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348165/how-selective-outrage-over-iran-war-exposes-limits-realpolitik?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348165/how-selective-outrage-over-iran-war-exposes-limits-realpolitik?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:30:09 +0000 Shi Jiangtao,Khushboo Razdan Shi Jiangtao,Khushboo Razdan China said on Tuesday it would enhance “strategic coordination” with Pakistan on the Iran crisis to promote dialogue and help end the conflict as Islamabad’s top diplomat Ishaq Dar arrived in Beijing. Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Dar to discuss ways to de-escalate regional tensions and to formally launch a joint five-point initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability in the Gulf and the Middle East. Key points of the plan include a call for an immediate ceasefire, a halt to attacks on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348571/china-pledges-strategic-coordination-pakistan-help-end-us-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348571/china-pledges-strategic-coordination-pakistan-help-end-us-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:05:51 +0000 Neeta Lal Neeta Lal As tensions simmer along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier – fuelled by disputes over the contested Durand Line, recurring cross-border strikes and the persistent threat of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters operating from Afghan soil – a subtle but consequential geopolitical shift is under way. India is quietly but steadily stepping up its engagement with the Taliban. The urgency of this recalibration was underscored on March 16, when Pakistani military forces carried out one of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Wars, including a widening conflict in the Middle East, are heightening risks for aviation as flight corridors are squeezed and drones become more widespread, Europe’s top aviation safety regulator has said. The month-old Iran war is reshaping airspace across the Middle East and increasing disruption to flights, including clogging routes between Asia and Europe that previously transited or ‌flew over the region. On top of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and fighting between Pakistan and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348364/iran-war-rogue-drones-force-european-aviation-safety-rethink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348364/iran-war-rogue-drones-force-european-aviation-safety-rethink?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:28:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced the release of a US national on Tuesday who had been detained for more than a year, after a letter from his family requesting his freedom. The foreign ministry said the family of linguist and researcher Dennis Coyle had written to the supreme leader of Afghanistan, asking that he be released and pardoned for the Muslim holiday Eid. “The Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate deemed his period of detention sufficient and decided on his release,” a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347754/afghanistan-releases-detained-us-citizen-after-more-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347754/afghanistan-releases-detained-us-citizen-after-more-year?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:57:39 +0000 Bibek Bhandari Bibek Bhandari Accelerating glacial retreat in the Himalayas over the past decades is threatening over 2 billion people in the region who depend on meltwater from the “water tower of Asia” for their daily needs, according to climate scientists. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region have been losing ice at twice the rate since 2000, with smaller glaciers under 0.5 sq km shrinking more rapidly than larger ones, according to two landmark reports published on Saturday to coincide with the World Day for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3347298/himalayas-glacier-loss-threatens-2-billion-people-greatest-problem-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3347298/himalayas-glacier-loss-threatens-2-billion-people-greatest-problem-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 07:00:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In a statement, Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the pause in strikes on “terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan” would take effect at midnight on Wednesday and remain in place until midnight on Monday. “Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3347078/pakistan-pause-afghan-strikes-eid-request-saudi-arabia-qatar-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3347078/pakistan-pause-afghan-strikes-eid-request-saudi-arabia-qatar-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:39:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Afghanistan accused Pakistan of killing at least 400 people in an air strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital late on Monday. It marked a dramatic escalation of a conflict that began late last month and has seen repeated cross-border clashes as well as air strikes inside Afghanistan. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unheeded. Pakistan dismissed the accusation that it had hit a hospital, saying its strikes, which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan, did... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 20:27:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters An Afghan immigrant who previously worked with the US military in Afghanistan and later sought asylum in the United States died this weekend in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody less than 24 hours after ‌being detained in Texas, a US veteran-led advocacy group said on Sunday. Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, who was living in a Dallas suburb with his wife and six children while his asylum case remained pending, was arrested by federal agents outside his flat on Friday morning while... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346691/afghan-asylum-seeker-dies-ice-custody-us-advocacy-group-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346691/afghan-asylum-seeker-dies-ice-custody-us-advocacy-group-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 20:27:44 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan’s president on Saturday warned neighbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban government that it had “crossed a red line” by launching drone attacks on civilian areas in Pakistan and said the administration in Kabul had brought “grave consequences upon itself”. The statement by Asif Ali Zardari was the latest in what has become the deadliest fighting yet between the two neighbours. The cross-border clashes, which erupted late last month, have shown no signs of abating despite efforts by China and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346619/afghan-talibans-drone-attacks-civilians-crossed-red-line-pakistan-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346619/afghan-talibans-drone-attacks-civilians-crossed-red-line-pakistan-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:30:08 +0000 Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng The US-Israeli attacks on Iran have profound implications for the global governance order. For America, the world’s mightiest power, to attack another nation without congressional or UN approval condemns the rules-based order to the dustbin of history. Governance is about checks and balance by rules, self-restraint or simply a humble appreciation that waging “forever wars” often ends up in self-destruction. War is such an extreme and costly measure it should only be undertaken after careful... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346410/us-israeli-war-iran-makes-mockery-global-governance-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346410/us-israeli-war-iran-makes-mockery-global-governance-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen US President Donald Trump warned Iran against laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as the US unleashed some of the heaviest strikes of the war so far. Tensions over the critical shipping lane continued to escalate amid soaring global oil prices, with the US claiming it had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels. Trump said that the US was using the same technology and missile capabilities deployed against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean to “permanently... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346147/hegseth-says-tuesday-will-be-most-intense-us-war-iran-trump-considers-endgame?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346147/hegseth-says-tuesday-will-be-most-intense-us-war-iran-trump-considers-endgame?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:51:47 +0000 Orange Wang,Shi Jiangtao Orange Wang,Shi Jiangtao Chinese analysts expect Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, to continue and possibly harden his assassinated father’s policies towards the US and Israel. The appointment of the 56-year-old cleric could signal a sense of continuity inside Iran, as well as stabilise ties between Beijing and Tehran, the analysts added. Iran’s Assembly of Experts confirmed on Monday that the younger Khamenei would succeed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader – a post holding the final say... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346134/why-china-sees-stability-hardliner-mojtaba-khameneis-rise-lead-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346134/why-china-sees-stability-hardliner-mojtaba-khameneis-rise-lead-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:15:51 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The oil price spike caused by the war in the Middle East has sparked unrest in Bangladesh and exasperation at petrol pumps around Asia, where many economies are heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports. Even as governments move to limit the impact on fuel prices, queues have formed at petrol stations in countries including Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines, although the situation remains stable elsewhere. In Bangladesh – which imports 95 per cent of its oil and gas needs – the military has... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3346112/iran-war-asia-sees-violence-fuel-rationing-queues-energy-crunch-hits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3346112/iran-war-asia-sees-violence-fuel-rationing-queues-energy-crunch-hits?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:59:28 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Is the US in decline? Many Chinese public intellectuals and journalists have long been told, or else they have talked themselves into believing, its inevitability. Now, some are not so sure after the Venezuela and Iran strikes. But of course the United States is in decline. That is so regardless of China’s rise or fall. It’s a domestic thing. Unfortunately, the rest of the world may long suffer the consequences. A declining superpower is a very dangerous beast. Exhibit No 1: Donald Trump and his... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3345885/america-decline-will-keep-losing-wars-weaker-foes-including-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3345885/america-decline-will-keep-losing-wars-weaker-foes-including-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:15:06 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Donald Trump has plunged the United States into its most significant conflict in decades over a “feeling”. It is not his political opponents saying this, but the White House itself. Throughout the first week of the war with Iran, the US president has prioritised impulse and emotion over explanations and reasoning. “I hope you’re impressed,” Trump, a former reality TV host, told an ABC News reporter on Thursday. “How do you like the performance?” Official government accounts are posting... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345801/trumps-feeling-driven-iran-war-cops-criticism-arrogant-messaging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345801/trumps-feeling-driven-iran-war-cops-criticism-arrogant-messaging?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 07:42:16 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Pakistan can ill afford to go to war. Neither can Afghanistan. Yet here they are, trading blows across one of South Asia’s most combustible borders – just as a team of International Monetary Fund inspectors arrived in Islamabad to decide on the country’s next financial lifeline. The inspectors had come for a third-round review of Pakistan’s economic recovery programme: the kind of visit that, if it went well, would unlock the next tranche of rescue funding and steady the nerves of skittish... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345748/pakistan-imperils-its-imf-rescue-afghanistan-border-violence-rages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345748/pakistan-imperils-its-imf-rescue-afghanistan-border-violence-rages?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 06:00:14 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain What began as a US-Israeli assault on Iran is rapidly evolving into a conflict with the potential to spread far beyond the Middle East. Iranian missiles and drones have already struck or reached Turkey and Azerbaijan, while European powers are rushing additional warships, fighter jets and air defences to the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf to contain the fallout. Analysts warn the longer the war continues, the greater the risk that long-simmering regional fault lines – from Kurdish militancy to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai Professor Pan Guang has spent decades focused on Jewish studies, the Middle East and its ties with China. Among his many roles, Pan is founding director of a research centre on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here. Amid recent events in Iran, how do you assess the impact on China? Will China’s “petroyuan” settlement encounter problems, and what of the risks to the Belt and Road... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/world/middle-east/article/3345551/iran-wars-impact-china-limited-mideast-scholar-pan-guang-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/world/middle-east/article/3345551/iran-wars-impact-china-limited-mideast-scholar-pan-guang-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:37:36 +0000 Ambrose Li,Connor Mycroft,Theodora Yu,Leopold Chen Ambrose Li,Connor Mycroft,Theodora Yu,Leopold Chen Hong Kong authorities are trying to reserve seats for residents on weekend flights leaving Dubai, with some of those stranded in the Middle East having exhausted all options to secure tickets to get back home amid the escalating regional conflict. The government also said on Thursday that it had urged carrier Emirates to run more flights between Dubai and Hong Kong, as regional airspace remained largely closed. According to the government, Emirates plans to operate direct flights from Dubai to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3345535/safe-air-corridors-enable-stranded-hongkongers-return-middle-east-amid-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3345535/safe-air-corridors-enable-stranded-hongkongers-return-middle-east-amid-war?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 06:32:15 +0000 Jawad Khalid Jawad Khalid The latest exchange of air strikes and border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan has once again pushed the region to the brink, reviving a dread among those who have lived through this cycle before, the continuation of a war that never truly ended. The so-called war on terror has been waged for over two decades, with no end in sight. Since 2001, the war has claimed more than 33,000 civilian and security forces lives in Pakistan and displaced millions internally. Yet a fundamental question... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345138/pakistans-forever-war-and-politics-exhaustion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345138/pakistans-forever-war-and-politics-exhaustion?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:30:08 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Iran’s nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan has invoked its mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, in what analysts have described as a key test of Islamabad’s emerging role in the Middle East’s security architecture. A gently worded warning to the Islamic Republic, delivered by Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has established Islamabad as a go-between to manage the escalation. Briefing the Senate on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345466/pakistan-aims-walk-tightrope-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran-war-flares-region?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345466/pakistan-aims-walk-tightrope-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran-war-flares-region?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:22:39 +0000 Sameed Basha Sameed Basha Many American wars begin with the assumption that brute force will lead to a swift and decisive victory. While the US military is highly effective at conventional deterrence, it has consistently struggled to defeat adversaries employing asymmetric tactics. In conflicts such as Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, Washington repeatedly underestimated its adversaries by assessing their strength based on their ability to fight conventionally. Iran represents the most dangerous iteration of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345222/us-war-iran-isnt-likely-go-planned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345222/us-war-iran-isnt-likely-go-planned?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistani authorities deployed troops and imposed a three-day curfew before dawn on Monday in the northern cities of Gilgit and Skardu after several people died and tens were injured in violent protests following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, officials said. Thousands of Shiite demonstrators on Sunday attacked the offices of the UN Military Observer Group, which monitors the ceasefire along the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and the UN... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345199/pakistan-cities-under-curfew-after-23-die-pro-iran-protests-over-khamenei-killing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345199/pakistan-cities-under-curfew-after-23-die-pro-iran-protests-over-khamenei-killing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:53:58 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial The abiding concern with violent conflict in the Middle East is regional escalation and heightened geopolitical tensions. This fear is very real after the US-Israeli air strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The strikes have triggered missile attacks on US bases in the region and neighbouring countries, roiled markets, pushed up the price of oil and grounded thousands of passenger flights. The air strikes on Iran are an unacceptable violation of an independent... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3345159/strikes-iran-may-complicate-us-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3345159/strikes-iran-may-complicate-us-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:15:12 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Airspace closures across the Middle East have left tens of thousands of travellers stranded and forced airlines to divert routes, threatening to derail the fragile recovery in Asia’s tourism and aviation sectors, as the conflict involving the US and Israel against Iran continues to escalate. Major transit hubs, including Dubai and Doha, remain shut or are operating at reduced capacity for a third straight day, upending Europe–Asia connections that depend heavily on Gulf airspace. Airlines are... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3345150/asias-travel-sector-rattled-iran-attacks-fears-domino-effect-slowdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3345150/asias-travel-sector-rattled-iran-attacks-fears-domino-effect-slowdown?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:53:17 +0000 Chris Fitzgerald Chris Fitzgerald The fragile ceasefire between the Taliban and Pakistan has broken, and there is now open war in South Asia. This week has seen a dangerous escalation between the former allies, starting when Pakistan carried out a series of air strikes on what it says were terror “camps and hideouts” in Afghanistan’s border provinces. Pakistan claims it killed 80 militants, whereas the Taliban says villages were hit and 17 civilians were killed. The two have since engaged in a deadly tit-for-tat of ground and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345086/why-talibans-only-hope-peace-pakistan-renouncing-terrorism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345086/why-talibans-only-hope-peace-pakistan-renouncing-terrorism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:30:07 +0000 Junaid Kathju Junaid Kathju For years, India has prided itself on a foreign policy doctrine of “dehyphenation”: maintaining productive, parallel relations with conflicting countries such as Israel, Iran and the Arab Gulf states without letting any one bilateral tie poison the others. That doctrine is now being tested to the limit. The killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by US-Israeli strikes within days of Narendra Modi returning from a high-profile visit to Tel Aviv provided instant ammunition for the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345120/iran-conflict-puts-indias-cherished-middle-east-neutrality-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345120/iran-conflict-puts-indias-cherished-middle-east-neutrality-test?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:00:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Explosions were heard in the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday, Agence France-Presse journalists said, with the Taliban government saying they were responding to aerial Pakistan attacks. A spokesman for Afghanistan’s defence ministry said “air defence strikes were carried out against Pakistani aircraft in Kabul”. Months of cross-border clashes have flared since Thursday when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345024/pakistani-afghan-clashes-widen-arab-states-struggle-halt-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3345024/pakistani-afghan-clashes-widen-arab-states-struggle-halt-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 09:49:14 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are locked in a widening tit-for-tat confrontation that neither side seems willing to defuse, analysts said, warning the exchanges risked settling into a prolonged conflict along one of Asia’s most volatile borders. Islamabad has vowed to keep striking military targets inside Afghanistan until the Taliban takes action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups Pakistan says operate from Afghan soil. Pakistani warplanes... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344965/pakistan-taliban-showdown-risks-becoming-protracted-war-attrition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344965/pakistan-taliban-showdown-risks-becoming-protracted-war-attrition?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 08:00:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The UN rights chief on Friday decried mounting threats to women’s rights worldwide, highlighting rampant femicide and horrific abuse exposed in cases like that of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk denounced “social systems that silence women and girls” allowing powerful men to abuse them with impunity. “Violence against women, including femicide, is a global emergency,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights told the UN’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3344952/un-rights-chief-slams-violence-against-women-calls-it-global-emergency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3344952/un-rights-chief-slams-violence-against-women-calls-it-global-emergency?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 03:15:35 +0000 Reuters Reuters Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said on Friday they were willing to negotiate after Pakistan ⁠bombed their forces in major cities and said the allies-turned-foes were in “open war”. Pakistan struck the Afghan capital Kabul, the city of Kandahar, where Taliban leaders were based, and other towns, a Taliban spokesman said. The attacks were its first directly targeting Afghanistan’s government over allegations it harbours militants seeking to overthrow the Islamabad government. Taliban spokesman... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344949/afghanistans-taliban-open-talks-pakistan-open-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344949/afghanistans-taliban-open-talks-pakistan-open-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 02:09:21 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Central Asia has long been someone else’s crossroads. Squeezed between an overbearing Russia to the north and an increasingly unstable Iran to the west, the region’s landlocked ex-Soviet republics have settled on a different solution: send railways south, through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, all the way to the Arabian Sea. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – Central Asia’s two largest economies – have in recent months struck preliminary multilateral agreements for the construction of two... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3344798/central-asias-plan-bypass-russia-and-iran-railways-through-afghanistan-and-pakistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3344798/central-asias-plan-bypass-russia-and-iran-railways-through-afghanistan-and-pakistan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 02:00:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pakistan has been the Afghan Taliban’s closest friend for decades. It was Islamabad ⁠that helped give birth to the Taliban in the ⁠early 1990s – as a way to give Pakistan “strategic depth” in its ⁠rivalry with India. What’s gone wrong? Pakistan carried out air strikes on Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, officials in Islamabad and Kabul said on Friday, escalating months of border clashes between the Islamic neighbours. The air and ground strikes, which hit Taliban military posts,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344904/once-close-allies-pakistan-and-afghan-taliban-are-now-trading-fire-what-went-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344904/once-close-allies-pakistan-and-afghan-taliban-are-now-trading-fire-what-went-wrong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 01:00:13 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China has stepped in to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan following an escalation of their conflict, urging both sides to end the fighting and settle their disputes through dialogue. This comes after Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan on Friday, including the capital Kabul, and declared “open war” with its neighbour after months of deadly clashes. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday that as a neighbour and a friend to both countries, China was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344907/china-seeks-mediate-after-pakistan-declares-open-war-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344907/china-seeks-mediate-after-pakistan-declares-open-war-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:14:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. Journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities. Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:01:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan’s claim of killing at least 80 militants in strikes on Afghanistan is “false”, a Taliban government security source told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. “The figure of 80 martyrs given by the Pakistan regime is false and imaginary,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. Pakistan’s state-run media later reported... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:07:16 +0000