January 4 – Pakistan
The United States suspends security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of harboring terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network and the Afghan Taliban. The U.S. says these militants target U.S. personnel and destabilize the region. The aid suspension only affects military assistance and will include equipment and security-related funds. The State Department has yet to decide the amount of aid that is being cut. In August last year, the Trump Administration delayed handing $255 million in military aid to Pakistan. However, the U.S. will renew its security relationship with Pakistan after it demonstrates its willingness to aggressively confront the terrorist and militant groups that operate from within its country.[1] Pakistan serves as a key transport route for supplies to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In 2016, Pakistan received $687 million in U.S. assistance, which includes civilian assistance such as education, health, and economic development.[2] Pakistani authorities deny the accusations of harboring terrorists.
January 20 – Afghanistan
Several Taliban gunmen storm the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and for 14 hours terrorize the guests and target foreigners. They kill and injure a dozen of people until they are killed by the Afghan Special Forces. Last May, a suicide truck-bomb exploded outside the German Embassy in Kabul killing 150 people.[3] Since then there were several other deadly terrorist attacks, including a bombing of a Shia cultural center that killed 40 people. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says that he is unable to protect his own capital, adding that 21 international terrorist groups are operating in his country with dozens of new foreign suicide bombers continuously making their way into the country.[4] (January 24): Islamic State (IS) militants attack the offices of the Save the Children charitable organization in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing at least 2 people and injuring more. [5] Save the Children organization provides better access to education, healthcare and essential supplies.[6] The city of Jalalabad has been a stronghold of IS since 2015. The Taliban, on the other hand, is now openly active in 70 percent of Afghanistan.[7]
More about the Taliban presence in Afghanistan including a map
Read more about the future of Afghanistan from Foreign Policy
February 2 – Maldives
The Maldivian Supreme Court rules that the 2015 trial and conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed were unconstitutional. It also orders the government to free jailed opposition leaders. Nasheed was the country’s first democratically elected president. He is currently in exile. (February 5): In response to the Court’s ruling, the government introduces the state of emergency for 15 days, suspends the parliament, and detains a few opposition members of parliament, as well as former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government. Gayoom was an autocratic president ruling the Maldives between 1978 and 2008. In 2011, he founded an opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). Since current President Abdulla Yameen came to office in 2013, the country has been criticized for violating freedoms of speech, detaining opponents, and attacks on judicial independence.[8]
February 8 – Bangladesh
A court in Bangladesh sentences former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia to five years in prison for corruption. Zia denies the charges and describes them as politically motivated. Thousands of her supporters clash with police outside the court. The conviction is likely to prevent her from running in parliamentary elections due later this year. Khaleda Zia is the widow of Bangladesh’s former president, Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981 in a military coup. She is also the first female prime minister after her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won the first democratic elections in 1991. Her political career has been defined by a rivalry with Awami League leader and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The two women have alternated from government to opposition for most of the last 20 years.[9]
June 14 – India
India’s capital New Delhi is battling extreme temperatures and unusually high air pollution levels, which are about nine times higher than normal. The residents are encouraged to stay indoors and the authorities are sprinkling water throughout the city.[10] India is home to six of ten cities in the world with the worst air pollution, which includes New Delhi. According to the World Health Organization, about a quarter of deaths from heart disease, stroke and lung cancer can be attributed to air pollution. [11]
July 25 – Pakistan
Pakistan holds general elections to elect the members of the country’s National Assembly and the Assemblies in Pakistan’s four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The election is considered a contest between current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League party (PML-N) and a former cricket star Imran Khan’s party, Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), known as the Justice Party. Nawaz Sharif served as prime minister for three terms, but was forced to resign in 2018 over corruption. Imram Khan’s party wins 115 of the 270 available seats in the Assembly. As it is short of an outright majority, Khan will be the country’s new prime minister, but will have to form a coalition government with other parties. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) comes in second with 64 seats. Khan has promised to end the country’s rampant corruption, mismanagement by the ruling elites, and to improve the country’s economy. The election was marred by violent incidents, including a deadly suicide attack.[12]