Latest news with #Uzbeks
Memri
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Lebanese Politician Richard Riachi: Syria Has Been Hijacked by Turkey, Israel, America, Everybody; Some People Deserve Having Barrel Bombs Dropped on Them
Lebanese politician Richard Riachi of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) said in a July 9, 2025 show on Tele Liban (Lebanon) that Syria has been 'hijacked' by Turkey, Israel, America, and 'everybody.' He said that Turkish flags were waved over the Citadel of Aleppo and cited a Turkish MP who said: 'Aleppo is ours and we are taking it. When Mohamad Barakat, a Lebanese journalist also on the panel, remarked that flags are better than barrel bombs, Riachi responded that some people 'deserve' to have barrel bombs dropped on them, adding that these people aren't really Syrians but rather Uzbeks and Pakistanis.
Gulf Insider
20-07-2025
- Gulf Insider
30 Arrested In Oman For Prostitution, Including 21 Expat Women
Thirty individuals, including 21 expatriate women of various nationalities, have been arrested in Oman for engaging in prostitution, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) announced on Sunday. The arrests were made at a hotel in the Wilayat of Muttrah in Muscat Governorate. According to a statement from the ROP, the individuals were detained by the Muscat Police Command, and legal procedures are currently underway. Last month, over 60 expatriate women were arrested across Oman on similar charges. That group included 23 Egyptians, 13 Iranians, 14 Pakistanis, four Thais, two Uzbeks, two Moroccans, three Syrians, and one Bangladeshi. Authorities have intensified crackdowns in recent months as part of efforts to curb prostitution, which police say is often organized by expatriate-run gangs. Under Article 25 of the Omani Penal Code, anyone found publicly committing indecent acts or making indecent statements faces imprisonment from 10 days to three months and/or a fine ranging from 100 to 300 Omani riyals.
The Diplomat
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Recent Violence Underscores Problems Facing Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province
The geographic and social conditions that make Badakhshan difficult for the Taliban to control also make it difficult for any widespread unrest to spill out from the region. An early July counternarcotics operation by Taliban authorities triggered a week-long outbreak of violence in Khash District in central Badakhshan Province, resulting in as many as 15 dead. Protests and repression in the area are not new, as violence also broke out during last year's poppy cultivation season. The drug trade, competition over minerals, ethnic and religious tensions, and the presence of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) will likely continue to challenge the Taliban regime's ability to exert control over Badakhshan, a province where it historically enjoyed only limited support. Unless things escalate further, the recent unrest in Badakhshan seems unlikely to pose a threat to the Taliban's control over the country. However, the province should serve as a bellwether for the Taliban's attempts to adapt its dogmatic governance to an increasingly underserved national population. Badakhshan Province was never ruled by the Taliban during the first emirate, though the movement did enjoy some support in the area. Several key members of the Taliban are from the province, including the current Chief of Army Staff Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat. During the insurgency, the Taliban presence increased in the central districts of the province after 2014. While the Taliban lacked the manpower in the northeast to expand their base of support past a few districts, the Taliban's presence around Faizabad meant that it was only the ninth provincial capital to fall once the group began its takeover of the country in 2021. Since the takeover, the Taliban have been careful in their governance of the province, seeking to manage their lack of support in the more remote districts of the province. The ethnic disposition of the Badakhshan presents a problem for the Taliban. Tajiks and Uzbeks make up the overwhelming majority of the province's population with a limited number of Pashtuns sprinkled among the urban areas, working as traders or government officials. In an effort to accommodate local sensitivities, the Taliban has allowed Badakhshi commanders and officials to hold government posts in their local areas, something not generally allowed elsewhere in the country. However, as time as passed, there is an increasing tension between local Tajik and Uzbek Taliban members and Pashtun senior leaders from outside of the province. There are also sectarian elements to the instability in Badakhshan as the Deobandi Taliban have sought to assert control over Salafi mosques and Ismaili prayer houses and cultural centers in the province. Religious tensions in the province likely caused the killing of a local Agha Khan Foundation official on July 9 and a local Salafist Taliban leader on May 27. While it has been quiet in recent months, ISKP has a historic presence in Badakhshan, capitalizing on the area's religious and ethnic fault lines. The Taliban target ISKP cells in the province as they are identified, to mixed results. Iranian officials claimed the Islamic State's January 3, 2024 attack in Kerman was facilitated out of Badakhshan. However, ISKP only conducted four attacks inside the province in 2024, and has not claimed an attack in Badakhshan this year. Despite the group's recent decline, its actions set the stage for the current problems in the province. On June 6, 2023, ISKP killed the deputy governor of Badakhshan with a car bomb. ISKP then conducted a suicide attack on the deputy governor's funeral two days later. Recognizing the need for a firmer hand in the province, the Taliban named Muhammad Ayub Khalid, a Pashtun, to be Badakhshan's governor. Khalid's prior experience as a military commander suggests the regime is increasingly focused on security in the region. The movement of additional Pashtuns into intelligence and police positions in the province set the stage for renewed tensions with the local populace as the national government seeks to tighten its control over Badakhshan. Competition between local leaders and the national government over Badakhshan's rich mineral resources is a critical driver for instability. The province has aluminum, gold, and limestone deposits as well as jewels such as rubies and lapis lazuli. The Taliban regime awarded mining contracts in 2024 for the region's large deposits and tried to crack down on illegal mines run by the local population. Control over the province's mines is no trivial matter. The Taliban seek to exploit Afghanistan's mineral wealth in order to mitigate the pressure of Western sanctions and impact of persistent budget shortfalls. For Badakshis, the mines provide a critical revenue stream for many to meet their basic needs as the government provides only minimal services and the terrain and climate limit agricultural opportunities in the province. Conflict over the drug trade is also increasing in Badakhshan. After the Taliban banned poppy cultivation across the country, Badakhshan has emerged as the new center of the Afghan drug trade. The Taliban anti-drug efforts largely depend on deterrence of farmers, rather than aggressive eradication or interdiction campaigns. The Taliban was able to deter poppy cultivation in other parts of the country through strong networks of supporters and allies that convinced the population of the rectitude of the ban. The Taliban in Badakhshan lacked that support network. In fact, many local Taliban commanders did not enforce the ban. Further, southern Pashtun drug traffickers established connections with Badakhshi growers to refine their opium to heroin for shipment to international markets. The eruption of cultivation eventually became something Taliban senior leadership could not ignore. As the Taliban began eradication in the province in spring of 2024, they moved largely Pashtun fighters into Badakhshan from other provinces. The new troops almost immediately began fighting not only with the local population, but eventually with local Badakhshi Taliban as well. As they seek to smooth over ethnic and religious turbulence and improve control, the Taliban have made significant investments in Badakhshan. The government has built canals and bridges in addition to a terminal for international cargo handling. The most notable, and ambitious, infrastructure project is a road through the Wakhan Corridor to connect the province with China. A road project to better connect Badakhshan to Panjshir and Nuristan is also underway. These roads serve to improve the security forces' access to restive parts of the country and increase the government's ability to establish additional mines in Badakhshan and elsewhere in the northeast. With the transportation network improving and Pashtuns now firmly entrenched in key positions in the province, the Taliban are gradually moving to bring governance in Badakhshan in line with Afghanistan's other provinces. Since Khalid's installation as governor, local officials have begun floggings for moral offenses, removing women from educational positions, seizing weapons, and regulating holiday celebrations, things that started long ago in other parts of the country. These moves have further exacerbated popular grievances. When Taliban forces showed up in Darayim and Argo districts in 2024 and in Argo, Jurm, and Khash districts in May and July this year to eradicate local poppy crops, violence was an extraordinarily likely outcome. The Taliban seem to be developing a playbook for such disturbances: withdraw the offending troops and reconstitute, flood the zone with reinforcements, cut off local access to internet, arrest any complicit local commanders, and employ senior Badakhshi Taliban leaders like Fitrat and others to mediate. Little has been done to address core grievances in Badakhshan, so additional violence next May, June, and July is likely as Taliban forces again eradicate poppy ahead of the harvest. Leaders of the anti-Taliban resistance, like General Jalaluddin Yaftali and Vice President Amrullah Saleh, were quick to encourage Badakhshan's population to expand the revolt. It was not to be. The geographic and social conditions that make Badakhshan difficult for the Taliban to control make it difficult for any widespread unrest to spill out from the region. Badakhshan will remain turbulent, though it might be possible for unrest to challenge the regime's ability to control the neighboring portions of Takhar and Panjshir provinces. Unless there is a substantial deterioration in conditions, it is likely the Taliban will do just enough to keep northeastern Afghanistan under control. However, Badakhshan should be watched closely for any further challenges to Taliban authority.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Federal agents arrest men trying to sneak across US-Canada border
A tranquil corner of upstate New York has been shaken by fears of terrorism after seven foreign men — including five Iranians — were caught by federal agents trying to sneak across the US-Canada border. The dramatic arrests occurred on July 1 near Mooers Forks, a sleepy hamlet just miles from the Canadian border, when Border Patrol agents from the Champlain Station intercepted a minivan packed with the seven suspicious men. All the men had previously been arrested for trying to cross into the US illegally, reportedly sparking concern over Iranian sleeper cells operating in the US amid heightened geopolitical tensions. According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the van carried five Iranian nationals and two men from Uzbekistan — all now in custody and facing deportation proceedings. 'They are currently detained and pending removal proceedings,' CBP confirmed on Facebook. 'Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety.' The incident unfolded in the Swanton Sector, which spans parts of New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, which has emerged as a hotspot for illegal crossings amid a surge of foreign nationals attempting to enter the US from the north. Tensions are especially high following US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, with security experts warning of Iranian-backed sleeper cells positioned inside the country, lying low and waiting to strike. Still, there is no suggestion from CBP that any of the detainees are linked to the Iranian regime or its allied militias, or had planned any violent or even criminal attacks . They could just be economic migrants. Fox News reported that the arrests had stoked 'terror fears' without providing evidence. Jonathan Gilliam, a former FBI special agent and counterterrorism task force officer, sounded the alarm. 'Where these sleeper cells may be is in plain sight,' Gilliam told Fox News earlier this month. 'That's the truly terrifying part — they could already be here.' Gilliam linked the growing threat to what he described as lax immigration policies under Joe Biden, arguing foreign operatives could easily exploit asylum loopholes to gain access to the country. 'They can show up at the border, claim asylum, and instead of being properly vetted and held, they're often released into the US with little oversight,' Gilliam said. Other analysts note that Iran would be loath to attack the US right now, as it would likely compel President Donald Trump to launch a series of devastating economic and military actions against Tehran in response. The arrests near Mooers Forks follow a troubling pattern. A 2023 terrorism report from the US State Department outlined several plots involving Iranian nationals on Western soil. They included an assassination plan in New York City, a terror reconnaissance case in London, and multiple Iranian-backed operations in Europe. 'Iran has clearly shown it is willing to use terrorism as a tool of foreign policy,' the report stated. In one case, three individuals tied to Iran were charged in a plot to kill an Iranian dissident on US soil, while other plots led to arrests and expulsions of Iranian officials in Belgium, Albania, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The latest arrests have cast a long shadow over Mooers Forks, a community of some 3,600 farmers, retirees and others nestled among the forests and fields of rural Clinton County. Locals, more accustomed to spotting deer than international fugitives, now find themselves living on the frontline of potential terror infiltration. As national attention remains fixed on the chaos at the southern border, experts say the northern frontier has become an overlooked backdoor — one increasingly used by those who wish America harm. In a separate incident, a New Hampshire Green Card holder and avid Trump supporter was recently denied re-entry into the United States after visiting Canada in the same region. Chris Landry, 46, has legally lived in the US since he was three years old and has built a life in Peterborough with his partner and five children. But earlier this month, as he attempted to return home from his yearly trip to his native Canada, he was stopped at the border in Maine with three of his children and barred from re-entry. 'They denied me re-entry and said, 'Don't come back or we will detain you,' and the only way for me to get in back was to see an immigration judge,' Landry told NBC 10. 'They pulled me aside and started questioning me about my past convictions in New Hampshire.'
Fox News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Five Iranians nabbed at US northern border as terror fears grip small towns
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman confirmed Tuesday that five Iranians were arrested while attempting to illegally cross the U.S. northern border with Canada. "On July 1, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain, New York Station, responded to suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, NY," CBP's Swanton Sector said on Facebook. "Agents located a minivan occupied by five citizens of Iran and two citizens of Uzbekistan." The Champlain Station is part of the Swanton Sector. Swanton is a rural town in Vermont near Highway 89 just south of the Canadian Border. CBP said that all seven men had been previously arrested for attempting to cross the border illegally. All seven aliens are detained and awaiting deportation. "They are currently detained and pending removal proceedings," CBP said. "Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety, Swanton Sector Agents remain vigilant and committed to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws." Earlier this month, a counterterrorism expert told Fox News Digital that Iranian terrorist sleeper cells could be hiding in plain sight. The U.S. military crippled several Iranian nuclear sites after targeted airstrikes on June 22. "Where these sleeper cells may be is in plain sight," former FBI special agent and terrorism task force member Jonathan Gilliam said. "And that's the real terrifying part of this is that putting people in place, as we've seen over the past four years, everyone's scrambling because certain amounts of people could come in here and get in here." Gilliam pointed to the Biden administration's border policies as a reason for concern. "They could even go to the border and say they [want to] seek asylum, and the Biden administration, instead of putting them into DHS housing or ICE housing and holding them there so they could have their first appearance. To be vetted and whether or not they get asylum," he said. In a 2023 terrorism report released by the State Department in December of last year, the federal government outlined numerous instances of worrying behavior by Iranian nationals in western countries. "In 2023 the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging three individuals connected with Iran in a plot to assassinate an Iranian dissident in New York City," that report said. "Also in 2023, a United Kingdom court found a man guilty of attempting to collect information for terrorist purposes on the London-based Iran International, a media company that is critical of the Iranian regime." "In recent years, Albania, Belgium, and the Netherlands have all either arrested, convicted, or expelled Iranian government officials implicated in various terrorist plots in their respective territories. Denmark similarly recalled its ambassador from Tehran after learning of an Iran-backed plot to kill an Iranian dissident in that country."
