THE STANS

News About Central Asia

3,325 articles

Syrian Kurdish leader in Damascus for talks on military integration
Jan 04, 2026 (AFP)
Abdi signed a deal in March with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to merge the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration into the government by the end of 2025, but...
Chinese man who documented alleged Uyghur camps risks removal from US
Dec 15, 2025 (AFP)
Guan Heng, 38, underwent an immigration hearing in New York on Monday after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in August, his mother...
Pakistan's ex-spy chief to appeal 14-year term: lawyer
Dec 12, 2025 (AFP)
Faiz Hameed, who ran Inter-Services Intelligence during the tenure of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, was detained in 2024 following claims he raided t...
US opens new mega consulate in Iraq's Kurdistan
Dec 03, 2025 (AFP)
Kurdish authorities enjoy strong ties with the US, which led the 2003 invasion that toppled longtime Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, who had persecuted the Kurds. T...
'We chose it': PKK fighters cherish life in Iraq's mountains; PKK urges Turkey to free Ocalan to advance peace process
Dec 03, 2025 (AFP)
After calling from a phone dangling from a tree, he leads a team of AFP journalists into a bunker under the Qandil mountains, where they have been granted rare ...
Tajikistan says two Chinese citizens killed in latest attacks on Afghan border
Dec 01, 2025 (AFP)
The former Soviet republic shares a lengthy mountainous border with Afghanistan and has tense relations with the Taliban. Several border attacks by local gangs ...
Pakistan denies deadly strikes after Afghanistan vows retaliation
Nov 25, 2025 (AFP)
An air raid on Khost province "martyred" nine children and a woman, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X, blaming Pakistani forces and saying the ta...
Kyrgyzstan arrests Chinese CEO of gold mining firm
Nov 25, 2025 (AFP)
China has poured hundreds of millions of dollars of investment into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan in recent years, financing huge infrastructure projects and expandin...
Kurdish PKK militants say have left key area in north Iraq
Nov 17, 2025 (AFP)
The pull out comes six months after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey, drawing a line under four decades o...
Syria to hand over Uyghur jihadist fighters to China: sources
Nov 17, 2025 (AFP)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani was on his first visit to China on Monday. Since toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad nearly a year ago, Syria's ne...
Pakistan's Asim Munir: top soldier with lifetime immunity
Nov 15, 2025 (AFP)
The amendment enacted Thursday consolidates military power under a new role, chief of defence forces, who commands Pakistan's army, navy and air force. It also ...
Kazakhstan jails 12 over rare anti-China protest
Nov 14, 2025 (AFP)
Protesters at the rally on Thursday accused China of orchestrating the disappearance of a Kazakh citizen and of buying up Kazakh land. Local media and rights gr...
Pakistan grants lifetime immunity to president, current army chief
Nov 13, 2025 (AFP)
The 27th amendment, passed by a two-thirds majority, also consolidates military power under a new Chief of Defence Forces role and establishes a Federal Constit...
Germany deported Uyghur to China in bureaucratic bungle
Nov 10, 2025 (AFP)
The woman, Reziwanguli Baikeli, was only in Beijing for a short time after her deportation last week, and managed to quickly leave again for Turkey, news magazi...
Taliban govt protests no invitation to UN climate summit
Nov 09, 2025 (AFP)
The 30th UN Climate Change Conference opens Monday and is set to draw representatives from dozens of countries to Brazil. Afghanistan's National Environmental P...
Indian Sikh pilgrims enter Pakistan, first major crossing since May conflict
Nov 04, 2025 (AFP)
More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival marking 556 years since the birth of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, Pakistan's H...
Pakistan, Afghanistan extend ceasefire, to hold another round of peace talks
Oct 31, 2025 (AFP)
The talks, set for November 6, follow the worst clashes between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Until Turkey and Qatar m...
Pakistan says peace talks with Afghanistan 'failed'
Oct 29, 2025 (AFP)
The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on October 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on P...
Jailed PKK chief's freedom 'crucial' for peace to work; PKK withdrawing all forces from Turkey
Oct 26, 2025 (AFP)
Abdullah Ocalan's "freedom is crucial for this process to advance with greater effectiveness," Devrim Palu told AFP in an interview in northern Iraq on Sunday a...
Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to new ceasefire after continued clashes
Oct 19, 2025 (UPI)
Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that negotiations between Afghanistan's Taliban government and Pakistan were mediated in Doha. "During the n...
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