Posts published in “Day: June 1, 2016”

Relations between Pakistan and the US are no doubt multilayered. Indicators are ubiquitous testifying that Pak-US relations have not only reduced to be domain specific –civilian and military — but also that Pak-US relations in military or defence domain are at low ebb. In June 2014, when Pakistan army launched the operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, it meant that Pakistan’s military paid heed to US’s demands. However, on February 24, 2016 when Chief of Army…

The writer is a senior journalist. Input will dictate output – almost always. So what is the input that is going into our national security and foreign policymaking that has produced such a bungled output? Let’s review the last ten days of May. First, Mullah Mansour’s May 22 death by a US drone in Balochistan. A combination of silence and confusion from Pakistani officials followed the death. A string of incredible statements on the drone…

OUR foreign policy management has long been without direction and coherence. Yet it has never been so chaotic. The events of the past few months have further highlighted the muddle. This became more evident during the latest US drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour. It took time for the Foreign Office to react to the incident. The Foreign Office appeared clueless even when the US president confirmed the death of the…

With Mullah Mansoor now officially dead and confirmed as such by a DNA test, the F-16 deal throttled at birth by wary American legislators, and the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) dead but not yet buried, there is much that requires recalibration in terms of Pakistani foreign policy. In addition to the above, the new leader of the Taliban has made it explicitly clear that peace talks are not on the agenda, and the government of…

In a major effort to curb illegal crossing of Pak-Afghan border, Pakistan is all set to launch the border management system at Torkham, which will be operational from the first of June. Approximately 10,000-15,000 people cross the border every day without proper travel documents. After the system becomes operational, no one will be allowed to cross into Pakistan without a valid passport. Certain FIA laws have been extended to the area to fill the legal…

HERAT, AFGHANISTAN — Amid the city’s swirling winds, construction crews work steadily to create a new downtown strip that, someday, will include high-rise office towers and thousands of new homes. That’s bad news for people like Nesar Ahmad Papalzai who have watched the rising property values in their city in western Afghanistan contribute to a chronic problem: land-grabbing. The practice — in which acres of private and government land are illegally seized by local strongmen,…

The Afghan security forces have rescued at least 10 abducted passengers during an operation in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan. According to police sources in Kunduz, the passengers were rescued during a night raid in Shina Tapa area on Tuesday night. The sources further added that three Taliban insurgents who were keeping the hostages were also killed and operations are underway for the release of 8 others still in Taliban custody. The Taliban insurgents killed…

A group of 7 Haqqani network terrorists were arrested by the Afghan intelligence operatives as they were busy in terrorist activities. The Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the terrorists were arrested during an operation conducted in Gardez city. According to NDS, the group was involved in major terrorist attacks including Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks in this province. The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the report so far. Haqqani…

A heavy explosion rocked Ghazni city earlier today with reports suggesting a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device was detonated near the provincial court compound. A local security official confirmed that four militants attacked the Appellate Court of Ghazni and were all killed during a gun battle with the Afghan security forces. The official further added that a policeman lost his life in the attack and the head of the court along with two other civilians were…

Accusing Islamabad of playing a “double game” in Afghanistan by supporting the Taliban and then pretending to endorse Washington DC’s policies in the region at the same time, former Director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, General Michael Flynn, has said that he was more concerned about Pakistan collapsing due to the instability caused by the militant factions in the war-torn mountainous country, observing America would have a significant problem at hand if that happened.…