Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Information Operations

Taliban Attacks on Media. The Taliban attack on the employees of the Tolo TV network in Afghanistan is a shocker to Afghan journalists that now find themselves on the frontlines of the Afghan conflict. Tolo News is the largest media organization in Afghanistan and is not shy about criticizing Taliban activities in their TV, print, and online news outlets. In 2015 the Taliban put Tolo News on notice saying they were legitimate targets. After those threats the news agency requested security assistance from the Afghan government . . .  but despite promises to help it was never provided. Read more in "Afghan Taliban Open New Front in War With Attacks on Media", by Lynne O'Donnell, Associated Press, February 2, 2016.

Threatening News in Afghanistan. The recent attack on Tolo News by the Taliban in Kabul where several employees were killed and many more injured highlight just how bad the security situation is in Afghanistan. Ahmed Rashid, noted author and commentator on the Afghan conflict, provides us with his perspective in "Afghanistan: Threatening News"The New York Review of Books, February 2, 2016.

"Voice of the Caliphate" - Destroyed. Air strikes have put the Islamic State-operated radio station in Nangarhar province off the air. The radio station had been broadcasting the militant group's extremist messages since last year. Read more in "Air Strikes Destroy Islamic State Radio Station in Afghanistan, Officials Say", Radio Free Europe, February 2, 2016.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

ISIS and Afghanistan

ISIS - "An Existential Threat". The Islamic State is attempting to establish footholds in a number of countries - in addition to that hold on territory that it currently enjoy in Syria and Iraq. ISIS is in competition with al-Qaeda in many of these areas. Afghanistan is one of those newly developed areas of endeavor for ISIS. Of course, Afghanistan and bordering areas of Pakistan has long been a sanctuary for al-Qaeda as well. Many foreign policy observers think we need to counter ISIS's growth anywhere they try to establish themselves (including Afghanistan). Read a report on ISIS and al Qaeda entitled Al Qaeda and ISIS: Existential Threats to the U.S. and Europe, Institute for the Study of War (ISW), January 2016.
http://understandingwar.org/report/al-qaeda-and-isis-existential-threats-us-and-europe

Stepping up the Fight against ISIS (or is it ISIL?). Ash Carter, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, has penned an opinion piece on the fight against the Islamic State. Read "Ash Carter: It's Time to Accelerate the ISIL Fight", Politico, January 22, 2016. He says the fight should take place in three forms 1) eliminating the centers of ISIS power in Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq, 2) protecting the homeland, and 3) fighting ISIS where it is started to establish footholds - such as Afghanistan and Libya. Glad he is now on board!

ISIS Radio Station in Nangarhar. The Islamic State used the Internet and social media platforms to spread its message in Iraq, Syria, Libya and around the world. But in the impoverished country of Afghanistan most people have access to radio broadcasts but little access to the Internet. For that reason the Islamic State is using radio broadcasts to spread its message. Read "IS radio beams propaganda, threats across rural Afghanistan", Fox News, January 21, 2016.