Afghanistan Archive

JUI breakup: Evading North Waziristan Operation – by Faruq Adil: Related article: Maulana Fazlur-Rehman and the military establishment’s new game – by Nazir Naji
Three high ranking TTP officials killed in Afghanistan: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hafizullah and two of his aides were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, according to official sources. Hafeezullah was the head of the TTP in the Upper and Lower Dir areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before
A letter to Barack Obama from the Afghan experts: To the President of the United States: Mr. President, We have been engaged and working inside Afghanistan, some of us for decades, as academics, experts and members of non-governmental organisations. Today we are deeply worried about the current course
Beyond nation states: Union of South and Central Asia (USCA) – by Shiraz Paracha: The death and destruction in name of nation state has taught the West to discard the narrow concept of nation state, however, in some parts of the world, the West is encouraging separatist movements and ethnic groups which aspire
A question for Pakistanis in favour of “reconciliation” with the Afghan Taliban: In recent months, as Western despair over the Afghanistan war has increased, there has been a chorus of voices suggesting reconciliation of the Taliban leadership is the only path to end the Afghan war. It is quite natural that
Pakistan “not willing ” to obliterate terrorist havens on its soil: US intelligence report: Related article: Online factories of suicide bombers: An ISI production Amrullah Saleh, who led Afghanistan’s spy agency from 2004 until earlier this year, told a Washington conference Thursday that the key to defeating the Taliban is cutting off its
Shia-phobia of Saudi Arabia and the institutional genocide of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan: Ever wondered why the Wahhabi-Deobandi inspired terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Sipah-e-Sahaba are blood thirsty for Shia Muslims? Ever wondered why hundreds of Shias are killed like flies each year by the Wahhabi or/and Deobandi
Leaks disclose secrets of in-camera sessions; is Pakistan really playing double game?: “It’s a bombshell,” says the historian Timothy Garton-Ash in a Guardian video on the released of the cables. “It’s the most extraordinary window into how American diplomacy works.” Founded by secretive Australian Julian Assange, Wikileaks was originally based in
Russia leads Eurasia – by Shiraz Paracha: The United States faces embracement as leaders from 56 countries, including head of states and governments gather for a two-day international summit in Central Asia. After a gap of 11 years, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe
Wikileaks reconfirm the Taliban support in Pakistani establishment: Related articles: Wikileaks on General Kayani and his ‘democratic’ puppets King Abdullah, the great-grandson of Abu Jahl – by Omar Khattab The whistle-blowing site Wilileaks has released a cache of 250,000 secret messages sent by US diplomatic staff. Here
Pentagon report raises new questions about Pakistan’s willingness to take on the safe militant havens: “Pakistan’s domestic extremist threat and the 2010 floods recue the potential for a more aggressive or effective Pakistani effort in the near term,” says the report covering the period from April to the end of September. The report, titled
Fake Mullah Mansour and the double-game of the ISI: Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was an Impostor By DEXTER FILKINS and CARLOTTA GALL Source: NYT KABUL, Afghanistan — For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if
Afghanistan: NATO’s mission impossible – by Shiraz Paracha: During the weekend, leaders of 28 NATO countries gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, for a face saving meeting as it became clear that the Western military alliance could face a humiliating defeat in one of the world’s poorest countries. Contrary
Media-military-militant Alliance – by Shiraz Paracha: On the eve of NATO summit in Lisbon, the state-funded BBC World Service and the Pakistan military, apparently, provided a PR opportunity for the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, where he claimed in an interview with the BBC
Strategic grandeur – by Raza Rumi: As if Pakistan’s domestic woes were not troubling, the unravelling of the US strategy and its implications are eluding even the best of strategists. Mind you, Pakistan is a place every third person is a ‘strategy’ expert and the term
Smuggling and its effects on economy – by Shaukat Masood Zafar: Smuggling severely harms the economy of a country in multidimensional ways. It undermines the local industry, discourages legal imports and reduces the volume of revenues collected from duties and levies by the state. Unfortunately a parallel underground economy has
Military Mullah Nexus – by Shahid Mahmood: Related articles on LUBP: General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s letter to Mullah Baradar – by Hakim Hazik Taliban Apologist Court bars extradition of Mullah Baradar It is not a self-created tragedy that almost one million people gave up their lives
Central Asia, battlefield of powers – By Shiraz Paracha: Energy resources of Central Asia, the containment of Russian and Chinese influence in the region, and the monitoring of Iran are the main motives of the United States and the NATO presence in Afghanistan and in parts of the
Signaling Tensions, Pakistan Shuts NATO Route -by Jane Perlez and Helene Cooper: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — American officials pressed their Pakistani counterparts on Thursday to reopen a vital supply route for American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as relations deteriorated after the fourth strike by coalition helicopters in a week killed three members
Concerns over Post-military operations developments in KP – by Idrees Kamal: Amn Tehrik (Peace Movement) , an organization of  Political workers, civil society, writers, intellectuals, Lawyers, Students, Labours, Women, Poets and sensible segment of the society and comrises political workers of almost all the secular political parties working in the
Interview: Parliamentary Vote Displayed ‘Positive Signs For Afghanistan’s Democracy’: Mustafa Sarwar of RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan spoke today with Jed Ober, chief of staff of U.S.-based Democracy International, which sent a team of observers to monitor Afghanistan’s second parliamentary elections on September 18. Democracy International focuses on democracy
Afghan vote deemed successful, despite Taliban attacks: Kabul – Afghan government officials said Saturday that parliamentary elections were ‘successful,’ despite Taliban attacks aimed at disrupting the vote. ‘I want to congratulate all Afghans on the completion of successful parliamentary elections,’ Fazel Ahmad Manawi, chief of the
Regional Scenario: Central Asian ‘Muslim’ states fear Pakistan – by Shiraz Paracha: Central Asia’s richest and largest state Kazakhstan is following a strict visa policy for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the same time offering further relaxations in visa regulations to nationals from Western and several non-Western countries. Pakistan has an image
Sleeping with the enemy – by Gulmina Bilal Ahmad: The floods are devastating. They have been called the most unprecedented disaster due to natural causes in recent years. Although there are some analysts who argue that this is not a natural disaster but a man-made one since the
Mad in the middle- By Nadeem F. Paracha:   The political and social aspects of Islam in Pakistan can be seen as existing in and emerging from three distinct clusters of thought. These clusters represent the three variations of political and social Islam that have evolved in
Good and Bad Taliban: Attack on Women Doctors: Violence against the women in the whole region is not strange thing. But when it comes to Taliban and their brutalities against the women, denial prevails, arguments are given that Taliban do not attack women etc etc. When BiBi
Floods Opening The Floodgates For Pakistan’s Extremists- By Daud Khattak: Devastating flooding in northwestern Pakistan has now taken more than 1,400 lives and a left about 1 million people homeless. Although the government has announced it is stepping up relief efforts, it has been widely criticized for its slow
We got leaked- by Sindhyar Talpur: Wikileaks, an international whistle-blowing website, recently leaked US and Allied forces military documents highlighting the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. One of the many things highlighted is Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI’s, double game in the War. If you
Pakistan, Afghanistan and politics of US withdrawal- by Shehrbano Taseer: WASHINGTON DC: On Wednesday, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) co-sponsored an event featuring Pervez Hoodbhoy and Zia Mian. The speakers discussed the present crisis in Pakistan regarding the Taliban
The road to perdition- by Dr. Muhammad Taqi: First published in Daily Times In the Obama lexicon, the word victory does not exist in the Afghan context. Indications are there that the Pakistani security establishment has been outsourced the effort to tame the Taliban to allow the
Dangerous Conspiracy Theories – by Peter Chamberlin: Dangerous Conspiracy Theories By: Peter Chamberlin How could a bunch of “lone wolf” researchers be considered dangerous to the United States? The official explanation given is that we confuse those who hear or read what we have to say,
Pakistan’s status Post-WikiLeaks leakage – By Sehrish Khan: Source: PICTURES BEYOND THE PICTURE As the week ends, the most controversial and conflictive details of  the Afghan war come to surface, marking the greatest information leak-out of the US military. The details were provided to The New York
Clinton’s focus on people-friendly diplomacy – Karamatullah K. Ghori: Clinton’s focus on people-friendly diplomacy By Karamatullah K. Ghori Dawn, “Encounter”, Sunday, July 25, 2010 HECTORING comes to Hillary Clinton naturally. As First Lady, then Senator, and now a Secretary of State enjoying the full trust and confidence of
Views on news – by Sindhyar Talpur: This is an essay not on the News itself, but presentation of news and the power of media. The question I’d like to put up is whether our electronic media showing responsibility? On 19th July 2010 Pakistan and Afghanistan
Fatal obsession: Raza Rumi It is a matter of public record that the founder of Pakistan had stated that Indo-Pakistan relationship will resemble that of the USA and Canada. Even before the Partition, Jinnah in a 1946 press conference stated, “the
Stranded Shias of Parachinar killed in Afghanistan on ‘safe route’ to Pakistan: Before you read this post, you may wish to read: Parachinar: Pakistan’s Gaza Strip remains under siege by Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba and LUBP Archive on Parachinar In the eastern Afghanistan province of Paktia, Taliban terrorists opened fire on a
Now Mullah and Mullen are attuned – by Ali Arqam and Dr. Khan: In Afghan War,  when the capitalist  world, the salafist  Arabs, the communist  Chinese and  the  opportunist Pakistani  Generals along with their puppet warriors and clergies were in a war with the USSR and the Communist Afghan regime on Afghan
US exit means Taliban’s entry – by Kuldip Nayar: Before the Soviet forces entered Afghanistan in 1979, I used to visit Kabul regularly. I found President Mohammad Daud a fatherly figure who had no idea of what was happening in his country. Even otherwise, he was dependent on
Let’s say: “Terror has no boundaries” – by Ali Arqam Durrani: It is such a tragedy that everybody is stuck up with ‘who’ questions regarding attacks on Data Darbar (due to denial and conspiracy theories) preventing all of us from discussing the more important ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. Everyone is
Pakistan and terror – by Anas Abbas: Cross posted from Anas Abbas’ blog Attacks reminiscent of DAATA DARBAR and Ahmedi bombings have been a norm in Afghanistan and Pakistani Tribal Areas since the last 20 years. One must not forget the sufferings of Afghans and Pashtuns