Five Years of Misrule Under Security Scrutiny
The UN Security Council meeting on 16 September 2026 brought five years of Taliban rule under intense international scrutiny. Member states evaluated the stark contrast between official claims of internal stability and the harsher realities on the ground. The session emphasized how unresolved governance failures directly feed regional and global insecurity. According to reports presented […]
A Meal or Medicine: The Impossible Choices of Poor Families
To a poor family, an illness is never just a health issue. It can easily turn into a financial crisis that makes people make decisions no family would have to make: buy the children something to eat or buy a parent a medicine, rent or a hospital bill, keep a child in school or use […]
Rethinking Maritime Power in an Age of Global Disruption
The emerging maritime partnership between Pakistan’s Gwadar Port and Oman’s Sohar Port deserves attention far beyond the language of bilateral diplomacy. Pakistan and Oman are discussing an arrangement that would designate Gwadar and Sohar as sister ports, opening avenues for cooperation in port operations, professional training, shipping incentives, logistics, warehousing, fisheries and investment. At a […]
Strategic Collusion and Kabul Transregional Gambit in the Gulf
An eye-opening investigative report by the Hindukush Tribune Network has exposed a dangerous geopolitical scheme taking shape between South Asia and the Middle East. Intelligence assessments reveal that the Afghan Taliban regime has established direct and indirect contact with Houthi leadership in Yemen, explicitly encouraging intensified attacks against Saudi Arabia. This unprecedented alignment between Kabul […]
The Middle East Landscape
Middle East once considered one of the safest regions is under constant turmoil since 2023 when Hamas carried out attacks on Israeli occupied territory in Gaza. Israel responded with disproportionate retaliation not only against Hamas but primarily against the innocent Palestinians. It opened fronts against Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran and Lebanon. Prior to that attack there […]
The Real Face of Development in Sindh
In Sindh’s politics, we often hear about massive projects, budgets worth billions of rupees, and developmental achievements. But the real test of any government’s performance is not a press conference, a budget speech, or an advertisement. The real question is: what kind of road does an ordinary citizen find when they step out of their […]
Economic Collapse in Iran Accelerates Afghan Refugee Crisis
The intensifying economic crisis in Iran has triggered an unprecedented wave of reverse migration for millions of Afghan refugees. Escalating regional conflict and severe inflation have wiped out migrant savings across major Iranian commercial centers. For decades, Iran served as an industrial sanctuary for displaced Afghans fleeing civil war and authoritarian rule. However, skyrocketing consumer […]
New SAT Study Marks Five Years of Taliban Rule: “Institutional Evolution Without Ideological Rupture”
ISLAMABAD — South Asia Times (SAT), an independent research and media lab focused on South Asia, today released “Taliban 2.0: The Five Year Ledger,” a comprehensive study marking five years since the Taliban’s return to Kabul on 15 August 2021. Authored by Salman Javed, SAT’s Director General, and Haleema Khalid, SAT’s Director of Operations, the […]
Taliban 2.0: The Five-Year Ledger
Five years after the Taliban’s return to Kabul on 15 August 2021, “Taliban 2.0” is the reconfiguration of an inherited state around an unelected, Taliban-controlled militant political order.