ISI Archive
The kidnapped: Why did Punjabi Taliban capture Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja? – by Rahimullah Yusufzai: The kidnapped Rahimullah Yusufzai There is no doubt that North Waziristan is dangerous territory. It is a major sanctuary of local and foreign militants espousing diverse causes. No other place in the world has been subjected to so many
Who if not Baitullah? By Amir Mir: The United Nations Inquiry Commission report into Bhutto’s murder has put Musharraf regime in the dock The three-member United Nations Inquiry Commission has almost absolved the slain Ameer of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Commander Baitullah Mehsud of the Bhutto murder
A hard-hitting report – by Asma Jahangir: Source: Dawn THE UN inquiry report on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination may not be an eye-opener but it does put the record straight and fixes responsibility for the tragedy. Responses to the report have been mixed. Some have been dismissive
In defence of the UN Commission Report on Benazir Bhutto’s murder – by Hamid Mir: وہ سچ جو ہمیں پسند نہ آیا …قلم کمان …حامد میر سچ یہ ہے کہ ہمیں صرف اپنی پسند کا سچ سننے اور کہنے کی عادت پڑ چکی ہے ۔ جو سچ ہمیں پسند نہ آئے اسے جھوٹ قرار
The UN commission report on Benazir Bhutto’s murder and the ISI’s spin-doctors – by Haider Nizamani: After the UN commission report Ordinary Pakistanis, especially those who cannot read English, should be given the opportunity to access the report in its entirety, instead of leaving them at the mercy of spin-doctors and prejudiced television anchors trashing
Pakistan “controlled” by the ISI: UN Report: The recent UN report on the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has put forth in black and white what has been hitherto suspected and perceived – the murky role of Pakistan intelligence agencies’, especially the ISI,
No matter what Pakistan army claims, the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have merely relocated – Dawn report: On the run, militants find new haven ISLAMABAD: They were never routed, no matter what Pakistan claimed. Instead, the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have merely relocated. They’re still near the Afghan border. Months after Pakistani troops chased them from
The Islamofascist mafia in action—again! – by Omar Khattab: Picture: Benazir Bhutto gazes towards a crowd of thousands of supporters at a campaign rally minutes before she was assassinated in a bomb attack December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi The debate on the 18th Amendment is ISI’s smokescreen to
The Zia-ul-Haq group stages kidnap drama or wants to dispose of used cartridges? Two ex-ISI officials and a dubious journo “abducted” by the Taliban: Have they been ditched and bitten by one of their own? Or the General Zia-ul-Haq group of Pakistan’s ISI has staged an interesting drama by claiming that two of its visible assets Squadron Leader (retired) Khalid Khwaja and Colonel
Report of the UN commission on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination: General Musharraf and the ISI indicted: Commentary/summary by Abdul Nishapuri The UN Commission’s report clearly identifies General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI and the Punjab Police (collectively the powerful security establishment of Pakistan) as responsible for the tragic murder of Benazir Bhutto and also for impeding
Aafia Siddiqui’s daughter’s reappearance: The CIA and ISI should come clean – by Kamran Shafi: Maryam Saddiqui, the missing daughter of Aafia Siddiqui, has been identified after mysteriously reappearing on her family’s doorstep, a top Pakistani official said. The 12-year-old is one of three children of Aafia Siddiqui. Come clean, there is still time
Parachinar: Pakistan’s Gaza Strip remains under siege by Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba: The following news item in Dawn today (27 March 2010) forced me to post this rather lengthy compilation of events. First the news item: Six kidnapped truckers found dead in Thal Dawn, 27 Mar, 2010 PESHAWAR: Police on Saturday
Intelligence Dumps Zaid Hamid?: Cross-posted from Khawer Khan’s blog. Zaid Hamid’s meteoric rise and recent fall has been analyzed by a number of commentators. One aspect of his story that has been missing is Zaid Hamid’s connections to the Pakistani intelligence community. In
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
Pack your bags and get out, Lahoris tell intelligence agencies: Pack your bags and get out, Model Town tells security agencies * MTS residents hold protest, demand removal of security offices from residential neighbourhood * Demonstrators carrying placards, banners demand compensation for victims of terror attacks * Slam MTS
Research: Nawaz Sharif’s ties to Bin Laden: Daily Times of Pakistan reports – Sunday, March 21, 2010 Ex-ISI official says he arranged 5 meetings between Nawaz, Osama LAHORE: Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Khalid Khawaja has claimed that he arranged five meetings in the past between
My Name Is Iftikhar Chaudhry and I’m Not A PCO!! – By Usama Bhutto: Khalid Khawaja, a former official of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) claims to have arranged at most Five Meetings between Usama Bin Laden and the Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. Talking to Samaa News, Khalid
Dilemmas of counter-terrorism — by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi: The perspective of Islamic parties and the political right that expresses varying degrees of sympathy for the Taliban has seeped into other sections of society that either do not blame the Taliban for the violence or attempt to rationalise
De facto versus de jure rulers of Pakistan – by Ardeshir Cowasjee: As far as the army chief is concerned he has to do nothing but wait and deal competently with the menace of militant extremism that stalks the land. The other day I had a conversation with a man less
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
Allama Iqbal Town blasts in Lahore were a message to Shahbaz Sharif: The following is a most interesting yet much ignored news item in Pakistani media. Here is how I interpret the series of six low-intensity ‘cracker attacks’ in Lahore. The Taliban do not ‘waste’ their precious assets (human bombers and
Zaid Hamid and Ghuzwa-i-Hind — by Tayyab Shah: Zaid Hamid and his followers will not shy away from using religious texts of doubtful authenticity, with totally wrong and self-serving interpretations, to promote war. But the Pakistani youth is no more willing to be at the receiving end
Who is behind Zaid Hamid’s crush India brigade? – by Kamran Shafi: The crazy Right and rump Pakistan I was to regale you with other stories to do with our security establishment’s tortured and seemingly futile hunt for the very elusive holy grail of strategic depth in Afghanistan (I ask you)
The civil-military struggle within — by Sher Ali Khan: Changing the pattern of the civil-military relationship is a difficult task to achieve. Thus far the Pakistanis have gained some political space through their recent stand against the last dictator. This has not necessarily translated into governmental autonomy in
Keeping the army in check – by Irfan Hussain: Routine administrative issues like the grant of an extension in the service of the ISI chief becomes headline news. This preoccupation reflects the central role the army has come to occupy in Pakistan. As the major political player, it
Kamal Mehsud, the most famous singer of Waziristan: did the ISPR cheat him? — by Farhat Taj: Kamal Mehsud’s story is just one of the hundreds of stories of horror in Waziristan. The other stories are much more brutal and sinister in terms of the intelligence agencies’ collusion with the Taliban Kamal Mehsud was the most
Blast after blast after blast in Lahore, who is responsible?: Terror drama unfolds in Lahore Two suicide bombers targeting Army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other on Friday, killing at least 45 people and wounding 100, police said. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this
In Pakistan, generals do not retire – by Syed Talat Hussain: Age of extensions The COAS has done precisely what the chief justice did in the case of his trusted comrades, which is not much different from the reasons we hear from the president and the prime minister for retaining
Arresting Taliban to serve America’s interests – Guest post by Peter Chamberlin: First published at: Therearenosunglasses’s Weblog The multitude of theories on the reasons for the arrests are divided between cooperation and confrontation theories, either it is explained by mutual interests or by rivalries. In my opinion, it is both. Researchers
Lashkar-e-Taiba in Perspective – Stephen Tenkel: In 2006, the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba entered the Afghan theater, necessitating its increased presence in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The group is often mentioned during discussions of the Punjabi Taliban, militants from Punjabi
Hamid Gul, Uzma Gul, Varan Bus Service and the Transport Jihad: How honest is General Hamid Gul, the saviour of Pakistan, the guardian of jihadis and the Taliban? Varan Bus Service was established with millions of rupees loaned to the daughter and son-in-law of a former ISI chief, General Hameed Gul,
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
Interpreting tribal leaders of FATA — by Farhat Taj: Anger against the Pakistan Army and the Taliban is intense and getting more intense with every passing day and so is disappointment with the government of Pakistan I am compiling a list of the tribal leaders of FATA who
Benazir Bhutto murder case takes new turn as officials hunt for retired and serving army men: میں کس کے ہاتھ پہ اپنا لہو تلاش کروں Investigators are searching for four military personnel who had disappeared just before the assassination of the former prime minister. New twist in Benazir’s assassination probe ISLAMABAD: Investigations into murder of
Pakistani generals’ oath at the Kakul Academy and the bloody civilians – by Kamran Shafi: The ‘happening place’ “PAKISTAN is the most happening place in the world where there is never a dull moment.” So pronounced the Commando to a “packed audience” at Chatham House in London, to much laughter and mirth. ‘Happening place’
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
Strategy to demonize civilian government? – by Anas Abbas: One of the main aims of Pakistan Army and its pro Taliban media sympathizers is to launch campaigns against the civilian government structure in order to justify its controversial interference. The strategy employed here to achieve this objective by