TNH – CounterVortex

Afghanistan

Pakistan declares ‘open war’ on Afghanistan

Violence has once again broken out between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Islamabad declaring “open war” on Kabul. Afghan forces fired on military bases across the border in Pakistan, reportedly using drones. Pakistan retaliated, striking what it said were military targets in Kabul and several border provinces. Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate government said its attacks were a response to earlier Pakistani air-strikes that killed at least 13 civilians in Nangarhar province. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of harboring fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—accused of being behind recent attacks in Islamabad and Peshawar. Afghan Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani said the “doors for dialogue” remain open but insisted that if Afghanistan continues to be attacked, it will respond. (Map: Google)

Iran

US preparing to strike Iran?

The Trump White House appears close to launching military strikes on Iran. The US is amassing a large strike force in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, over a dozen warships, and advanced fighter jets, suggesting preparations for a prolonged war. After first threatening military action in January during a protest crackdown in Iran that killed thousands, US officials now say a decision could come within days or weeks, depending on the outcome of now-stalled negotiations over Iran’s uranium enrichment and missile development programs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said any deal must dismantle both programs. Iran’s leaders may view forfeiting these means of deterrenceagainst foreign intervention as more dangerous than a war. (Map: PCL)

Africa

Africa pushes back against Russian military recruitment

Facing a manpower shortage in its war with Ukraine, Russia is increasingly turning to recruitment networks in the Global South—especially Africa—to help fill its ranks. Fast-track visas, the promise of good salaries as well as citizenship are the lures, in contrast to growing official immigration hostility in the rest of Europe. But the problem is surviving the front line. In a report released this week, the investigative collective INPACT obtained a single list of 1,417 Africans hired by Russia and found a death rate of over 20%. Those killed lasted an average of just six months. There are also reports of racism and brutality. While many young men volunteer, others are duped, promised work or scholarships, but then forcibly enlisted. Kenya and South Africa are two countries that have complained. Nairobi wants a ban on the conscription of Kenyans, while South Africa said Moscow had agreed to the return of 17 mentricked into serving in Ukraine. (Image: INPACT)

South Asia

Pakistan’s Baloch students are vanishing

Pakistan’s Balochistan just witnessed one of the province’s deadliest episodes: a wave of attacks and clashes across several cities that left dozens of civilians, fighters and security personnel dead, with official tolls as high as 200. It marked the latest escalation in decades of conflict between separatist groups and the Pakistani state in Balochistan, where the central government has long been accused of exploiting rich resources while marginalizing the local population. But before the recent violence, public attention was focused on the abduction of a young Baloch student, a case that has reignited simmering anger over enforced disappearances. For more than 6,000 days, activists have maintained a protest camp in Quetta, the provincial capital, demanding answers for hundreds of missing Baloch citizens believed to have been abducted and killed by the security forces. “The very existence of the Baloch is perceived as a threat to the state,” said Sabiha Baloch, head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a local rights organization. “The more educated, conscious, and politically aware the Baloch become, the more threatened the state feels.” (Image: BYC)

Planet Watch

Trump’s global imperial court

When US President Donald Trump first proposed establishing a so-called “Board of Peace” to oversee governance of the Gaza Strip for a transitional period back in September, the idea was quickly likened to a form of colonial takeover. The UN nonetheless adopted a Security Council resolution in November giving its blessing to the board’s creation—a vote some member states may now regret. The board was just officially inaugurated in a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, where Trump was attending the World Economic Forum. But Gaza seems almost incidental to its true mission, which appears to be creating a global strongmen’s club—led by Trump, potentially for life—to rival, if not replace, the UN itself. (Image via Wikipedia)

Planet Watch

Climate change drives Trump’s Greenland gambit

European troops landed in Greenland amid tense talks between the country’s autonomous government, officials from Denmark, and the United States. President Trump has continued to insist the two-million-square-kilometer Arctic island should belong to the United States—despite pre-existing security agreements and a (previously) strong relationship with Denmark that grants the US significant military access to the territory. Beyond Trump’s ego, there are reasons related to climate change that explain why Greenland is becoming of political interest. The territory’s strategic location has become even more so in recent years as the Greenland ice sheet and surrounding sea ice have retreated significantly: The ice sheet lost 105 billion tonnes in 2024-25, according to scientists. This has disastrous implications—ice helps cool the planet, and its melt will lead to rising seas. But it also allows ships and submarines more freedom of movement, making military planners nervous. (Photo: Pixabay)

Planet Watch

Deadly strikes on hospitals: the new norm?

On World Humanitarian Day in August, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement calling attention to intensifying attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, which constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. “We must stop this becoming the norm,” he wrote. The events of the past weeks suggest such attacks are now already the norm. In Sudan, the WHO reported that over 100 people, including 63 children, were killed when drone strikes attributed to the Rapid Support Forces hit a kindergarten and nearby hospital in South Kordofan. In Burma’s Rakhine state, a military airstrike destroyed the Mrauk-U general hospital, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens more. It was the 67th attack on a healthcare facility in Burma this year, according to the WHO. Attacks on healthcare facilities killed a record 3,600 people in 2024, mainly in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Burma and Sudan. This year is on course to surpass that toll. In Gaza alone, at least 917 people were killed by Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities between Oct. 7. 2023 and June of this year. (Photo: Myanmar Now)

Planet Watch

Triple-cyclone disaster crystalizes climate threat

A rare convergence of three tropical cyclones with the northeast monsoon has triggered the worst flooding to hit South and Southeast Asia in decades. More than 1,600 people have been killed, thousands remain unaccounted for, and whole villages have disappeared under mud and rising water. Roads, bridges, and other vital infrastructure have been torn apart, hampering rescue efforts as communities wait for help across Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and other affected countries. The scale of the disaster reflects a dangerous mix of climate pressures. Warmer oceans are intensifying storms, while a hotter atmosphere is capable of holding and releasing far more moisture. Environmental degradation has left many communities exposed: rivers once stabilized by forest cover burst their banks with little resistance. Humanitarian groups are urging governments to strengthen early-warning systems, invest in resilient infrastructure, and prioritize long-term adaptation—all of which makes the disappointing outcomes of this year’s UN climate summit even more worrying. (Photo: town in Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah. Credit: UNICEF/InceptChange via UN News)

Africa

ICC asked to investigate Tanzania killings

A coalition of local and international human rights groups has asked the International Criminal Court to open a case against Tanzanian President Samia Hassan and senior members of her government over killings by the security forces during post-election unrest in October. How many people died in the protests over the “sham” elections is still unknown. Hassan’s government has remained silent on an official death toll, but the opposition—who were effectively barred from the polls—claims thousands were shot by the police and Ugandan special forces. Gruesome images were shared online of armed men firing indiscriminately into crowds, and of overflowing morgues. A CNN investigation found that satellite imagery suggests the existence of mass graves. (Photo: Tanzania Daily News via AllAfrica)

Africa

Sudan: hollow truces, blood theft

In a move that will shock absolutely nobody following the war in Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) declared a three-month unilateral humanitarian truce—and then promptly broke it with an attack on an army position in the West Kordofan town of Babanusa. RSF leader Hemedti billed the pause as a first step towards a political solution, but it looks like just another attempt to con mediators and journalists. As ever, those attempts have been drowned out by a stream of grim revelations, including reports that RSF fighters forcibly took blood from civilians fleeing El Fasher—prompting one commentator to label them “literal vampires.” A Doctors Without Borders update found that many of the 260,000 civilians still alive in El Fasher before the RSF takeover in October are now dead, detained, trapped, or unable to access lifesaving aid. (Map: PCL)

Watching the Shadows

Trump vows ‘reverse migration’ —after CIA blowback?

President Trump called for “reverse migration” and a “major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations” in a racist late-night online rant. In the bizarre Thanksgiving message, Trump vowed to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” and revisit immigration decisions made under his predecessor, Joe Biden. He said deportations will target “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country” or “non-compatible with Western Civilization.” Trump’s message followed the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC, apparently by an Afghan refugee, Rahmanullah Lakanwal. In Afghanistan, Lakanwal reportedly served in the Zero Units: paramilitary forces backed by the CIA—notorious for conducting night raids on the homes of suspected Taliban collaborators. Rights groups have accused them of extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, indiscriminate airstrikes, and attacks on medical facilities. According to the New York Times, the brutality of the Zero Unit tactics took a toll on Lakanwal’s mental health, with a childhood friend recalling how he was disturbed by the casualties his unit had caused. (Image: Twitter)

North America

Texas turns state police into Trump’s immigration agents

Under a deal between Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas state police force—consisting of some 5,000 officers—is being given the power to interrogate anyone suspected to be undocumented about their immigration status and to arrest people who are believed to be in the country without papers, without first obtaining a warrant. The move is heightening concerns that already exist about racial profiling in the Trump administration’s country-wide immigration crackdown. (Photo: Texas Department of Public Safety via Facebook)