Customers at the General Post Office (GPO) in Peshawar February 6 buy stamps commemorating the late computer prodigy Arfa Karim, who died of epilep...
Tajik and Afghan law enforcement officials jointly participated in specialised courses on combating human trafficking and sex slavery.
Turkmenistan is developing the Avaza tourist zone on the Caspian Sea coast, which tourism promoters assert will become a destination for tourists worldwide. Three hotels opened there on Oct. 11 in the first phase of the project.
On Oct. 25, dozens of young men were arrested in Syr Darya, a provincial city in north Uzbekistan.
The Pakistani army is bracing itself for confrontation in South Waziristan with what it says is
On Oct. 27, the European Union lifted its arms embargo against Uzbekistan in a decision reached at a meeting between foreign ministers of EU member states in Luxembourg.
Deputies from Tajikistan’s lower House of Parliament voted unanimously in favour of a bill to introduce a new criminal procedure code.
Under the EU’s Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA), three Tajik border posts were remodeled.
A team of UN nuclear inspectors returned on Oct. 29 from a visit to a previously secret uranium enrichment site in Iran, and their leader expressed satisfaction with the mission.
The first appointments and personnel turn-over have taken place as part of the presidential plan for reforming Kyrgyzstan’s state administration system.
Terrorists are trying to destabilise Pakistan’s economy as well as the democratic process.
Iran will not retreat
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who participated in the 15th Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan on Oct. 26, called for a draft decree to confirm the Doctrine of National Unity in the country.
A 12-year-old boy, spotted as he put a homemade bomb under a road in the volatile Zhari District, grabbed a baby as a human shield to protect himself from attack from the NATO helicopter that detected him.
A remote-controlled car bomb killed at least 105 people and injured approximately 200 others at the provincial capital’s Meena Bazaar in Peshawar on Oct. 28.
Election authorities are delivering ballots across Afghanistan with UN assistance, as hurried preparations for the Nov. 7 runoff in the nation's presidential election are underway.
Fifteen Afghan refugee students have enrolled in the Albert Einstein Academic Refugee Initiative Fund (DAFI) programme, which will fund their studies in Tajikistan.
Usenov has been called a crisis manager because his appointment comes to the rescue of the presidential team.
Gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a guesthouse used by UN staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Oct. 28, killing 12 people, including six UN employees. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iran’s allegation that Pakistan played a role in the suicide attack that took the lives of 15 senior Revolutionary Guard members, combined with a fresh wave of terrorist attacks in the country, wiped out US$2.41 billion worth of capital from the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in just five days, market analysts revealed on Oct. 23.
The Textile Skill Development Board has trained 5,000 women as skilled textile workers in last few years, in collaboration with the textile industry.
Up to 3,000 earthquakes strike Kyrgyzstan every year. The most recent occurred on Oct. 19 in the south, and measured 4.5 on the Richter scale.
The Art Week Style.uz Week of Culture, Art and Fashion in Tashkent from Oct. 12 to 17, included art exhibits, a show of designer collections and peformances by famous singers and musicians.
The Kazakh film “Kelin” (Daughter-in-Law) was nominated on Oct. 22 for the 2009 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Since independence, Pakistan has accumulated a huge repertoire of patriotic and nationalistic songs that have been passed on from generation to generation.
More than 185 people have died in terrorists attacks in Pakistan since the beginning of October. The country is on high security alert after the military launched a major offensive against Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in South Waziristan on Oct. 17.
On Oct. 20, the first train carrying military cargo for coalition forces in Afghanistan passed through Uzbekistan.
Pakistan needs an internal discourse, without which it can not counter extremism or terrorism at the state and societal level, according to Dr Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, an independent security analyst and strategic affairs expert.
An explosion killed 17 on a bus headed to a wedding in the Mohmand tribal region. Hours later a car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a recreational facility in Peshawar, injuring fifteen.
Kazakhstan's cycling team Astana took first place this year in the team rankings of the International Cycling Union. Spaniard Alberto Contador, a member of the team, took first in individual rankings.
Soldiers captured the strategically located hometown of Pakistan's Taliban chief Oct. 24 after fierce fighting, officials said, the army's first major prize as it pushes deeper into a militant stronghold along the Afghan border.
Pakistani politicians and analysts were shocked by Iran’s allegation that Pakistan sponsored an attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guard members in the Sistan-Baluchistan area, which killed more than 40 people on Oct. 18.
The president of Kyrgyzstan has announced sweeping government reforms including the dismissal of the government, a reduction in the number of ministries and a 40 percent cut in the number of employees in the Presidential Administration.
Iran edged toward a landmark agreement with the West on Oct. 21 that would curb its nuclear programme. It remains unclear, however, whether Tehran's leadership will endorse the deal.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media organised a regional conference entitled “Improving the Quality of Journalism Education and New Technologies” in Bishkek.
The Kyrgyz Parliamentary Committee for Regional Development and Local Self-Government has approved an agreement to lease pastures to Tajikistan.
Suicide bombers attacked an Islamic university that has many foreign students in Pakistan's capital on Oct. 20, killing four, in apparent retaliation for an escalating army offensive on a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold near the Afghan border.
Tajikistan's Internal Affairs Ministry, with assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan, conducted joint antiterrorist training classes for mid-level commanders and senior officers, on new tactics for dealing with terrorist threats.
An agreement was recently signed by Amonatbonk, Tajikistan’s State Savings Bank, and China's National Development Bank to use Chinese currency for bilateral financial transactions.
The administration of the Nosir Khusrav District of Tajikistan's Khatlon Province allocated almost 400 hectares for the construction of housing for 1200 internal migrants taking up permanent residence in the district.
To fulfill its social responsibility and preserve natural resources, the Alhamra Art Gallery in Lahore organised a five-day exhibition of wire sculpture plants by Maryam Asim, entitled ‘Nature in Miniature,’ from Oct 6 to 10.
Tajik experts have commented on the Oct. 18 terrorist attack in Sistan-Baluchistan, Iran, close to the border with neighbouring Pakistan, which killed 15 senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Participants in the nuclear talks between Iran, the U.S., Russia and France in Vienna on Oct. 21 accepted the text of a draft agreement and forwarded it to their capitals for approval.
Iran increased pressure on Pakistan on Oct. 20, saying the group accused of carrying out a suicide bombing that killed top commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guards is based in Pakistani territory.
Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore, in collaboration with the NGO Bargad, launched a capacity building project called ‘Democracy and peace-building for youth on university campuses.’
The leader of the Isfarin cell of the terrorist organisation Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Anvar Kayumov was sentenced to life in prison. Five other IMU members were sentenced from seven to 11 years.
Four Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militants were killed in Isfara in the Sogdi Region. A special operation to neutralise the terrorists was carried out on Oct. 18.
On Oct. 16, an Astana court sentenced former Environmental Defence Minister Nurlan Iskakov to four years in a regular-security prison. Two former deputy ministers were also tried and received conditional sentences.
The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Oct. 19 accused the U.S., Britain and Pakistan of having links with the Sunni militants responsible for a suicide bombing that killed 15 senior Guard commanders and 37 others.
The South Asian Free Media Association organised the first regional conference on challenges, opportunities and partnerships for women in media on Oct. 10 and 11 in Lahore, Pakistan.
The United Nations has asked Saudi Arabia to release the US$100 million it pledged to support relief work in the conflict-affected areas in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Pakistan to arrest the Jundullah attackers, who he said had entered Iran from Pakistan and launched an attack against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A state award ceremony was held in Shymkent for three survivors and the families of ten military personnel who lost their lives in a special border troop operation on Sept. 8.
On Oct. 14, a public prosecutor in the office for surveillance of legal compliance by the security services was detained upon arrival in Dushanbe on Oct. 14. His car was found to contain more than 127kg of narcotic substances.
Pakistan moved large contingents of troops into the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan on Oct. 17, beginning a long-anticipated ground offensive against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in treacherous terrain, the Pakistani Army said.
On the night of Oct. 15, an armed group pursued by Tajik law enforcement agencies crossed the border and opened fire on Kyrgyz border guards. They then fled to the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan.
Arrangements for the delivery of 5,000 tractors to farmers selected by lottery under the Benazir Tractor Scheme (BTS) have been completed, it was announced on Oct 1.
From Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, the Central Bazaar in Osh is hosting a café run by chefs from the Chez Panisse Café in California, as part of an unique exchange between U.S. and Kyrgyz artists.
The UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was supplemented this year with the addition of 76 unique forms of cultural expression, including the celebration of Navruz and the Katta Ashula chants of the Ferghana Valley.
The Russian internet company Yandex announced on Oct. 14 that it would launch a search portal in Kazakhstan, yandex.kz. The Kazakh Information Technology and Telecommunications Agency hopes that the site will help boost the development of the Kazakh segment of the internet.
The Dushanbe Ismaili Centre is the sixth centre of its kind in the world. Others are in London, Lisbon, Vancouver, Toronto and Dubai.
Islamist militants launched coordinated assaults on three police compounds in Pakistan's second largest city on Oct. 15, the latest in a wave of attacks by insurgents bringing the war to the country's heartland, ahead of an expected offensive against their border sanctuary.
A trio of suicide attackers, one of whom was a woman, set off two blasts outside a police station in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Oct. 16, killing 11 people.
Uzbekistan has no plans to withdraw from the Central Asian integrated energy system in the near future, contrary to previous claims, but intends to charge a fee for transiting electricity to Kyrgyzstan.
The traditional tonga, a two-wheel carriage once a popular mode of urban transportation, is becoming a thing of the past. They have been expelled from city streets in Pakistan.
Limits on the electricity supply in Tajikistan have been introduced in rural regions alone, where more than 70 percent of the republic's population lives. The electricity shortage in the country is tied to a decrease in the flow of water in the Vakhsh River, where Tajikistan's principle hydroelectric plants are located.
An ancient mausoleum has been discovered in Kazakhstan that may contain the ashes of one or both founders of the Kazakh khanate.
For Afghan women, the fall of the Taliban brought historic change. More than two million girls are now in school. Some women are able to work, even in the most public of jobs.
Al-Qaeda is in its worst financial state in years, and its influence is waning because of a shortage of funds, the U.S. Treasury said on Oct. 12. In recent years the West had success in cutting funding intended for Al-Qaeda.
On Oct. 2, 21-year-old Iranian Maryam Sabri fled to Turkey where she is now waiting for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees to process her request for asylum. She told her story by phone, detailing her arrest and abuse by security officials .
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon opted out of a summit of CIS heads of state in Chisinau, Moldova to visit Turkmenistan on Oct. 9 and 10. This is the first time Dushanbe has taken such a step.
The Tajik Aluminium Company TALKO will sponsor all athletes representing Tajikistan in international competitions for the next four years.
Two of Kazakhstan’s largest opposition parties announced their merger on Oct. 13. The new party, named the National Social Democratic Party Azat, will hold its first congress on Oct. 24 in Almaty.
The NGO Pakistan Social Association will launch a project in collaboration with the government and the private sector to introduce internet-based technology to rural areas of the country.
Uzbek energy chiefs announced that Uzbekistan will withdraw from the Central Asian integrated power network on Oct. 15, which will put increased strain on countries still in the network, and could lead to serious incidents.
Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected militant hideouts on Oct. 12 in a tribal region where the military had previously declared victory over the Taliban, killing 13 alleged extremists the day after the end of a deadly siege of the army's headquarters.
The economic crisis has not affected the volume of remittances from Tajik migrants working in Russia and Kazakhstan. In the first six months of 2009 alone, migrants transferred US$1.5 billion to their home country.
The head of the State Religious Affairs Agency in Kyrgyzstan believes that the Kyrgyz Muslim Spiritual Authority should be the only Muslim body in the country permitted to give sermons.
Pakistani commandos freed dozens of hostages held by militants at army headquarters on Oct. 11. At least 19 people died in the clash, including three captives and eight of the militants, who wore army fatigues.
A Pakistani official says 41 people have been killed in a suicide car bombing that targeted an army vehicle in the northwest Shangla district on Oct. 12.
Deviating from their Code of Conduct, the Taliban have started killing civilians mercilessly in Pakistan in suicide attacks, experts said on Oct 9.
Six rescue training centres specialising in different fields will be built in Kyrgyzstan by the end of next year. The first centre opened in Osh in September.
The European Commission welcomed a decision by Central Asian countries to limit the use of the death penalty in a press release on Oct. 10, European and World Day against the Death Penalty.
Kyrgyzgaz CEO Salamat Aytikeev said on Oct. 7 that he plans to ask Uzbekistan to accept a partial repayment of his country’s natural gas debts, and resume the supply of gas to Kyrgyzstan.
Three defendants have been sentenced to death in Iran's mass trial of opposition figures accused of fueling the country's post-election unrest.
Athletes from 12 countries battled it out in eight weight categories at the Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships, at the beginning of October. Turkmen weightlifters took home a total of ten medals.
On Oct. 7, Kyrgyz State National Security Committee Director Murat Sutalinov proposed that efforts to combat drug-dealing be guided by the principle of collective responsibility, and that those involved in the trade be stripped of their civil rights.
The Tajik Prosecutor-General is concerned about the increase in the number of murders in Tajikistan and crimes committed by officers of the law.
Pakistan vowed to launch a new offensive against militant strongholds along the Afghan border, after a suicide bomber blew up a car near a crowded outdoor market on Oct. 9, killing 50 people, in the bloodiest attack to hit the country in six months.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller expressed his county’s satisfaction with the development of military cooperation with Tajikistan, and underlined the importance of Tajikistan’s involvement in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan's army headquarters on Oct. 10, sparking a ferocious gun battle in which four assailants, two senior officers and four soldiers were killed, authorities said.
According to a yearly ranking by UNDP, Kazakhstan is among the countries that boast a high development of human potential. Other Central Asian countries, however, ranked at a medium level of development.
The reply of Kazakhstan’s president to a question from a French journalist regarding whether he would like to retain power for life left observers and experts puzzled.
Kazakhstan's BTA Bank has refused to accept Eurobonds from the newspaper Republic–Business Observer as compensation for the fine a court levied against it.
Participants at an international scholarly conference on “Disappearing Languages and History” concluded that four languages of Tajik national minorities are on the verge of extinction and called for government action to save them.
A powerful suicide bomb rocked Kabul Oct. 8 outside the Indian embassy, destroying vehicles and splintering buildings, killing 17 civilians and wounding more than sixty.
More than 100 members of the Osh police have undergone training aimed at improving police practices in line with OSCE standards for maintaining public order.
The U.N. closed its World Food Programme (WFP) office in Islamabad after five people were killed and four others injured by a bomb blast on Oct. 5.
On Oct. 5, the Kyrgyz parliament's Committee on International Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Cooperation approved proposed agreements with France and Spain on their use of the Manas International Transit Centre.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kazakhstan on Oct. 6 where he was awarded the nation’s highest state honour and signed agreements worth several billion U.S. dollars.
The history of terrorist groups indicates the various ways in which they decline and end. Groups that achieve their objectives tend to have limited goals. Al-Qaeda, on the other hand, seeks maximalist goals that are unrealistic.
