#regional-instability

#regional-instability

Within hours of the United States-Israeli attacks on Iran, US assets in Iraq's Kurdistan region came under retaliatory attacks from Tehran-backed groups, dragging the country into the conflict that has since expanded across the Middle East and beyond. Since then, US assets located in Iraq have come under multiple attacks from pro-Iran groups and Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC).

Numbering between 30 and 40 million worldwide, most live amid the peaks and valleys straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. The Kurds link their history to that of the Medes, an ancient Middle Eastern people. They were left stateless a century ago when the borders of the modern Middle East emerged from the collapsing Ottoman empire.

Pakistan's military fended off attacks by the Taliban along its border with Afghanistan in the latest outburst of tensions between the two neighbors.

Growing tensions between the United States and Iran have left the two countries one spark away from a fire. An unprecedented accumulation of US military forces in the Middle East, coupled with Washington's reliance on gunboat diplomacy, has distinctly increased the risk of warone that engulfs Iran and the region, with far-reaching regional and global costs. In the aftermath of the recent crackdown on protests in Iran, US President Donald Trump announced that it was time to remove Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tinubu praised his troops and said they had helped stabilise a neighbouring country. The Nigerian statement came shortly after Talon, the president of Benin, appeared on national television and said his security forces had successfully blocked the attempt to overthrow his government. Talon said forces loyal to him stood firm, recaptured our positions, and cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers.

In contrast, the military operations targeting Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir demonstrate how India continues to be bogged down by instabilities in its neighbourhood and held hostage to its history.