Afghanistan Archive

Is Osama in Pakistan? – by Fawad Manzoor: CIA Director Leon Panetta: Source AP/Dawn If it is assumed by CIA director that Osama is in Pakistan then why dont they convey it to Pakistani agencies to capture him. Even if they dont convey us to capture him
Interview : Afrasiab Khattak on Pak India dialogue -by Jyoti Malhotra: Senator Afrasiab Khattak, President ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and former Chairman HRCP and member of Constitutional reforms committe chaired by Raza Rabbani recently has in an interview to Jyoti Malhotra in discussed Pak India peace dialogue, Terrorism and constitutional amendments.
Mullah Omar won, Khawja Sharif lost – by Imran Waseem: Lahore High Court in an amazing decision yesterday ordered to ban what is called internet these days, citing the presence of sacrilegious material on websites. As long as specific sites containing sacrilegious material are banned, the decision would be
Iran to India: Energy alliance between South and Central Asia – by Shiraz Paracha: (Map source) LUBP Exclusive Pakistan and India both face energy shortages but this crisis can be turned into a huge opportunity if (and there is big if) India and Pakistan are able to form an alliance that also includes
The slanted truth – by Dr. Mohammad Taqi: Those who Believers in the thesis that Afghanistan provides Pakistan with strategic depth are so scared of this shared bond that they had vetoed Afghania — represented by the letter ‘A’ in the word Pakistan — as the new
Harming the war on terror via accusing Pakistan – by By Riaz Ali Toori: Recently London School of Economics (LSE) has published a fabricated report where in Pakistan’s government, democratically elected President and the intelligence agency ISI are alleged liable for abetting Taliban in Afghanistan and for playing double game.
Gas attacks on schoolgirls in Afghanistan: As of May 2010, there are 2.5 million Afghan girls enrolled in school which is a sharp contrast to 2001 when female education was banned across the country. However, Afghan schoolgirls stay in school in the face of extreme
A critical perspective on the LSE report on the Taliban-ISI alliance – by Shiraz Paracha: The London School of Economics’ (LSE) recent report on the alleged links between the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban is yet another proof of an unholy alliance, in which Western secret services, the mainstream
Murderers united: Rogue elments and the TTP-ASWJ terrorists: Source: Times online THE Taliban commander waited at the ramshackle border crossing while Pakistani police wielding assault rifles stopped and searched the line of cars and trucks travelling into Afghanistan. Some of the trucks carried smuggled goods — DVD
Punjab: the new FATA — by Ali K Chishti: Source :Dailytimes COMMENT: Punjab: the new FATA —Ali K Chishti Sectarian jihadis, who are now transformed into ‘Punjabi Taliban’ through evolution, are concentrated in the economically backward and feudally dominated agrarian areas of Punjab A recent survey puts the
His masters’ voice: Hamid Mir, Taliban and the ISI – by Shiraz Paracha: LUBP Exclusive Veteran Pakistani journalist Shiraz Paracha has very kindly written the following note in appreciation of LUBP. Over his long experience as a professional journalist, Mr Paracha has contributed hundreds of news reports, analytical articles and opinion pieces
Rumi: The divine dancer – by Ammar Ali Qureshi: Ammar Ali Qureshi has kindly sent his article published in “The Friday Times” to be posted at LUBP. How relevant is Rumi today? asks Ammar Rumi, according to the German philosopher Hegel, was one of the greatest poets and
Militant splits span AfPak border – by Syed Saleem Shahzad: ISLAMABAD – The year 2009 was a second watershed in the Taliban-led struggle against foreign forces in Afghanistan as the resistance took the war, previously limited mainly to the south and western parts of the country, to north and
Faisal Shahzad’s case: Do Pakistani Taliban (TTP) have the reach? – by Rahimullah Yusufzai: Does TTP have the reach? Pakistan has again been thrust into the limelight, particularly the Pakistani Taliban and Waziristan, following the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, the 30-year-old Pakistani-American accused of the failed New York car-bombing. The fallout of the
The Taliban scourge — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: When General Musharraf dissociated himself from the extremists, the links with al Qaeda were ruptured but an institutional decision was taken by the military top brass to continue secret low profile support of the Taliban. The more recent delinking
Chameleons: Pakistani politicians’ approach towards Taliban – by Farooq Sulehria: The suicide blast in Peshawar on April 19 that claimed 23 lives was a little different, in the sense that instead of targeting the ANP, as usual, the suicide bomber chose a Jamaat-e-Islami demonstration to detonate himself. The Naib
Keeping the Profit in Oil and Persistent War – by Peter Chamberlin: Source: No sunglasses The accelerating pace of events in south and central Asia suggest that we are nearing the end of the “nice guy” phase in the terror war, where the need to keep-up appearances is overridden by military
A tale of a jihadi Mullah who did not want to join the Afghan jihad – by Nadeem Paracha: A tale of two calls A month before Benazir Bhutto decided to return from exile in 1986 to challenge the Ziaul Haq dictatorship, I was an 18-year-old student at a local college in Karachi. Studying economics and commerce, I
ZAB’s nephew challenges Fatima Bhutto’s version: Source: DAWN By: Tariq Islam I refer to Fatima Bhuttos’s book Songs of Blood and Sword. I feel it is incumbent upon me to set the record straight on at least one story. Fatima tells us how Z.A. Bhutto
Whither civilian governance?: By Raza Rumi Cross Posted from Pakteahouse While the gurus of security and international affairs continue to unpack and make sense of the high-profile and much-hyped Pak-US ’strategic dialogue’, the people of Pakistan continue to ask questions about its
Kasb e kamal kun, Key aziz e jahaan shwi: Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Army Unfortuntely, more dead people in the days to come. fortunately for some, also more cash….kasb e kamal kun, key aziz e jahaan shwi (Achieve excellence and you will be the beloved of the world)
Pak-Afghan relations — by Agha H Amin: I fail to understand how some of the country’s leading analysts can dub Afghanistan as being Pakistan’s backyard. Afghanistan is an independent state that boasts a great history. Seen in this context, how would Pakistanis feel if India tried
‘Strategic depth’ at heart of Taliban arrests – by Shibil Siddiqi: Pakistan has recently arrested a number of top Taliban leaders, including the second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and many of the Quetta shura. It also killed in a drone attack Mohammad Haqqani, a leader of the powerful
Strategic dialogue and the Pashtun — by Zubair Torwali: The Pashtun, who undoubtedly are the direct victims of terrorism and the war on terror, have never been asked to express their views in this regard. The Pashtuns are now so tired of the strategic depth policy that they
Changing realities of Afghanistan — by Dr Manzur Ejaz: Afghanistan’s political economy is drastically changing. The investments by China, India, Central Asian countries and Iran are changing the future prospects of Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Afghans’ migration to Western countries and socio-political experiences of millions of refugees in Pakistan,
America’s “Islamists” go where oilmen fear to tread – by Peter Chamberlin: By following the trail of militant terrorists US forces and American interests have gained access deep in Central Asia, where oil companies have had little luck gaining a foothold on their own. To students of American foreign policy in
Dialogue about Pakhtuns without Pakhtuns! — by Shahid Ilyas: Talking is not a bad thing, but when it is done without the participation of those who are the subject of such talks, it will most likely result in a disaster Pakistan’s political and military top brass will soon
The mysterious case of the grey lady of Bagram – by Robert Fisk: Why didn’t Aafia Siddiqui’s family report her missing in 2003, asks Robert Fisk. ISLAMABAD: Dr Shams Hassan Faruqi sits amid his rocks and geological records, shakes his bearded head and stares at me. “I strongly doubt if the children
Remembering Baba Abdul Ali Mazari – by Abdul Nishapuri: Related post: Baba Abdul Ali Mazari – A Shia Hazara but a Global Father Last week, the Afghan nation in general, and the Shia Hazara community in Afghanistan and Pakistan in particular, commemorated the 15th anniversary of martyrdom of
General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s letter to Mullah Baradar – by Hakim Hazik: A man believed to be Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in a photograph taken in 1998, given to The New York Times by a former photographer for the Taliban. Photo – New York Times Article cross-posted from: Justice Denied Brother
Punjab can no longer live in a state of denial – by Ayaz Amir: If FATA represents the cutting edge of terrorism in the name of Islam, Punjab, unfortunately, is the hinterland of this phenomenon. Or, to borrow a phrase from the repertoire of military folly, Punjab is the strategic depth of bigotry
HE Hamid Karzai and FATA – by Zar Ali Musazai: People of FATA are grateful to His Excellency President Karzai for his statement against FCR in FATA President Hamid Karzai was right to say that Frontier Crimes Regulations commonly known as FCR is a terrible legacy of the British
ISI’s Colonel Imam: Ideologue or pragmatist? – by Wasif Khan: Amir Sultan Tarar also known as Colonel Imam. — File photo In a recent interview with the New York Times, the once renowned Colonel Imam made some very insightful remarks and dire predictions. For those unfamiliar with the name,
Pakistan sets ground rules for AfPak policy – by M K Bhadrakumar: Natural law brings AfPak crashing By M K Bhadrakumar Be it a baseball struck in a neighborhood sandlot game or in high-wire diplomacy, an elementary principle of physics holds good – what goes up must come down. In a
My life with the Taliban – by Abdul Salam Zaeef: Humanising the monster Dr Mohammad Taqi My life with the Taliban By Abdul Salam Zaeef Translated from Pashto and edited by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn Hurst/Columbia University Press; Pp 331 In his foreword to Mullah Abdul
Wahhabization of Gitmo prisoners: Ex-Gitmo detainee now a Taliban commander * US officials say 20% of released prisoners go back to Taliban LASHKAR GAH: A man who was freed from the Guantanamo Bay after he claimed he only wanted to go home and
Women in Afghanistan: A tale of Afghan women’s plight —by Miranda Husain The Patience Stone By Atiq Rahimi Other Press; Pp 160 Afghanistan, a nation still on fire, a nation still home to a centre-stage Taliban. An entity that still remains resoundingly
A ‘friendly’ Afghanistan? — by Shahid Ilyas: The risk of failure and backfiring are much higher in trying to install a friendly government in a foreign country than in attempts to develop friendly relations with an incumbent government. The failure of Pakistan’s Afghan policy is a
The Taliban jihad – by Steve Coll: Don’t Look Back March 1, 2010 The Taliban’s jihad, like rock and roll, has passed from youthful vigor into a maturity marked by the appearance of nostalgic memoirs. Back in the day, Abdul Salam Zaeef belonged to the search
Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case and Pakistani media’s hysteria – by Farhat Taj: Caravans and howling of stray animals — Farhat Taj The media in Pakistan is constantly promoting a one-sided view of Dr Aafia’s case. Nobody is expecting 100 percent objectivity from the media. But still one is surprised how some