Weekly Newsletter

Kabul has been struck by another wave of violence after Kabul University attack in November 2020 despite the Taliban and government’s engagement to end ferocity and maintain peace in Afghanistan via peace talks. As per Afghan interior minister, Masoud Andarabi, a car bomb exploded on Sunday morning, December 20^th, 2020, leaving at least nine people killed and 20 wounded including a member of parliament, Khan Mohammad Wardak. The interior minister further mentioned that the toll of causalities may rise. The attack was carried out when the lawmaker’s convoy was passing through intersection in Kabul’s Khoshal Khan’s neighborhood. The intensity of blast was so great that it set other vehicles, buildings and shops around on fire as well. Other bombings were also reported on Sunday in the provinces of Logar, Nangarhar, Helmand and Badakhshan, it has been reported that these bombings have left security forces members and many civilians dead. The Sunday attack took place just two days after motorbike explosives attack near a remote part of Ghazni during a religious gathering which left 15 children dead and many wounded. No one has claimed a responsibility for carrying out this attack but ISIS has been actively involved in recent attacks in Afghanistan including educational institutions that left at least 50 people killed including students and rockets attack on US military base. NATO reported no causalities and that the airfield was not damaged either.

The Afghan interior ministry has reported that over the course of last three months Taliban have killed 487 civilians and wounded 1,049 by carrying out 507 blasts and 35 suicide attacks all across the country. According to UN mission in Afghanistan, between the month of January and September more than 2,100 civilians have been killed and 3,800 have been wounded. Many journalists, politicians and prominent figures have been attacked in past few month with the help of sticky bombs that can be attached to the vehicles with the help of magnets. The level of violence in constantly increasing despite the peace talks and negotiations between Afghan government and Taliban officials. The US agreed to extract its forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for security guarantees but violence is continuously surging in Afghanistan. Peace talks that were opened in September in Doha are on break till January due to pandemic. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called out next round of negotiations and peace talks to be held in Afghanistan.

USA blacklists Chinese and Russian companies for holding possible military ties:

Tensions between USA and China have only escalated over the past year or so. USA has explicitly accused China for spreading corona virus pandemic, imposing national security law in Hong Kong and expansionist behavior over South China Sea. These accusations have further deepened that strains between USA and China. The USA has growing concern about China’s “Civil-Military fusion.” This category involves the idea of armed forces, national police and any person that ropes and supports the maintenance or production of military items, even if their businesses are non-military, work together. This is the reason that Trump administration has published a list of Chinese and Russian companies with military ties that “restrict them from buying a wide range of U.S. goods and technology” as per USA’s senior Commerce Department officials. The list has named 103 entities including 58 companies with ties to China and 45 with ties to Russia.

Israel Government falling down, focusing on 4^th election in 2 years:

Jerusalem is planning for the 4^th election and pushing the country towards another early election, if this happened this will be the 4^th time in last two years. Israeli parliament on 22^nd December 2020 dissolved itself. This move forced a new election after weeks of infighting ups and downs in the so called Israeli government. We have seen uneasy coalition in past seven months that paired Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party with his main rival turned partner, Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party.

Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz blamed each other for the crisis. Mr. Netanyahu said “I think at the current time, we should have united forces to find a way to avert these needless elections,” A new election must take place in three months and is scheduled for 23^rd March 2021. But an election date in the late spring or summer, once the coronavirus vaccination campaign is well underway, might have been more advantageous for both of us.

Mr. Netanyahu, whose party holds the finance range, had refused to present a budget, in violation of his coalition agreement with Mr. Gantz the ostensible reason for the government breakdown. But at the heart of the crisis lies a deep, mutual distrust between Mr. Netanyahu & Mr. Gantz and a country basically split over the fate of Mr. Netanyahu, whose corruption trial is scheduled to move into a serious stage in early 2021, requiring his presence in court on regular basis. He has been charged with bribery, fraud and breaking of trust. He denies any wrongdoing and adding himself in good books. Analysts said that Mr. Netanyahu was gambling on another election in the hope of forming a right-wing.

The two men have shared power since April in an uneasy coalition, agreeing to rotate as prime minister, with Mr Netanyahu holding office first before a scheduled handover to Mr Gantz in November 2021. Analysts say the dispute affords Mr Netanyahu a favourable way to end the coalition due to a loophole in the pact under which the office would pass to the other leader for an interim three months if either party triggered elections, apart from in the case of failure to pass the budget. Mr Netanyahu is also facing a new political challenge from a former Likud MP, Gideon Saar, who has formed his own right-wing party which stands to peel votes away from Mr Netanyahu’s political base.

South. Korea scrambles jets as Chinese, Russian aircraft enter air defence zone:

On 22^nd December 2020 South Korea scrambled its jets after China and Russia violated South Korea air space. There are different reports from different sources according to Joint Chief Staff (JCS) South Korea 4 Chinese and 15 Russian aircrafts entered into South Korean air space without informing authorities. On the other hand the Chinese authorities claimed that they had followed the rules and regulations and informed South Korea before starting the routine training. This incident seems to be a joint military drill between China and Russia but it requires a further analysis,” the JCS said.

A map shows the flight paths of Russian and Chinese bombers over the East China Sea and Sea of Japan on Tuesday, December 22, 2020. PHOTO BY JAPANESE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE

This incident didn’t happen for the first time; Chinese jets have repeatedly entered Taiwan’s airspace amid tensions between the two countries. In September, Taiwan’s Air Force scrambled fighters as Chinese jets entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) for four times in five days. Last week the Taiwan government had deployed its Navy and Air Force as a Chinese carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Channel. Tensions between Taiwan and China have been escalating for the past two months as reports said China had deployed its most advanced hypersonic missile DF-17 to the area this is the reason South Korea is worried about and & investigating on recent airspace violation. In July last year, South Korean warplanes fired hundreds of warning shots toward Russian military aircraft on a joint air patrol with China, when they entered South Korean airspace.