Posts published in “Day: February 23, 2016”

The writer is a retired brigadier, and a PhD scholar in Peace and Conflict Studies at the National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad. All countries have a Higher Defence Organisation (HDO) specifically geared to their national security needs based on their geostrategic environment and historical experiences. Our colonial bequest left us with a tri-service model where the three services operate completely independently modelled almost upon the same pattern that the British Indian Army followed…

AMID stepped-up diplomacy and ferocious fighting in many parts of Afghanistan, national unity government leaders have agreed after a year of political wrangling on catapulting Pir Syed Ahmad Gilani to the helm of the High Peace Council. A respected spiritual figure, Gilani will have to go flat out to breathe new life into a panel that has come to be derided as a dead horse. Since early 2015, when Salahuddin Rabbani was nominated as foreign…

The writer is author of The Prospect of Nuclear Jihad in Pakistan Afghan politicians, military commanders and civil society recently expressed deep concern about the suspension of the Constitution by the unity government, which could develop a negative political and military approach towards stability and governance challenges in the country. They criticised both the presidents who acted ultra vires and followed the streak of the road map provided to them by US Secretary of State…

The writer is a retired Brigadier, a former Defense Attache’ to Australia and New Zealand and is currently on the faculty of NUST (NIPCONS). Afghanistan is a virtual boiling pot of hostile forces, working maniacally at cross purposes. At the top is its unique national government. It has a perplexed and split personality, demonstrates sorely divided authority and indecisiveness, is epitomised by weak governance and is ruthlessly infiltrated by the Indian intelligence agency, RAW. The…

Kabul: The families’ of the victims and Civil Societies Network on Monday praised National Directorate of Security (NDS) forces for arresting the mastermind of the Ghor passengers’ killing, and urged government to trial  the indict publicly. Last year suspected Taliban fighters stopped two buses on their way to the western province of Ghor. They checked the passengers’ identities and dragged out 14 Hazara nationals including three women and one child. They shot them dead at…

At least 13 people including members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces lost their lives in a suicide attack in northern Parwan province of Afghanistan. According to local security officials, the target of the suicide bomber was a commander of the ALP forces who survived the attack. Provincial police chief, Gen. Zaman Mamozai, confirmed that nine civilians and four policemen lost their lives in the attack and seventeen others were wounded. He said the…

Doha: Pakistani Army chief General Raheel Sharif arrived in Doha on Monday in a bid to revive the Afghan peace process. “COAS arrives in Doha,Qatar on one-day official visit. Will meet political and military leadership,” DG ISPR Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said. During his visit, the army chief will hold talks with Qatari leadership on key issues focusing on restarting the Afghan peace process, security officials told The Express Tribune. The army chief has been…

Australia and its allies did not have a strategy in Afghanistan and are now struggling to find a way out because they never defined their end goals, the former chief of the army, Peter Leahy, has said. The retired Lieutenant-General has written in an opinion article for Fairfax Media that the US-led coalition’s determination to get out of Afghanistan “ready or not” has been a failure because despite a 15-year Western military presence, the security…

LANDIKOTAL: Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) Maj Gen Shaheen Khattak visited the Torkham border to inspect the security arrangements, official sources said on Monday. Assistant Political Agent of Landikotal Muhammad Nasir Khan told The News that the IGFC met the officials and discussed issues related to border security. He was also briefed on trade and commerce activities taking place at the Torkham border. Maj Gen Shaheen Khattak inspected various government offices, including those of the…

Pakistan has allegedly set up checkpoints inside Afghanistan’s territory in Bahramcha area of Desho district of southern Helmand province, said members of Helmand provincial council. They claim that the check posts have been set up three kilometers inside Afghanistan’s border. “Pakistanis still want to attack our soil. They have set posts in and have built military installations in Bahramcha,” said Ataullah Afghan, a member of the council. Commander of 215 Maiwand Military Corps, Mohammad Moeen…