The writer is a former diplomat and currently practises law. Some recent developments at the international level indicate that our security and foreign policies have again failed. First, the F-16 deal has expired over a row on finances. Apart from US decision-makers who were not happy with our ‘double-dealing’ in Afghanistan, India had also been lobbying hard to frustrate our efforts to get more F-16s. On the drone attack in Balochistan, Obama has not only…
Posts published in “Day: June 3, 2016”
The writer is freelance journalist and author.Relentless cacophony about sovereignty of the country can be heard once again. Killing of Mullah Mansoor Akhtar, the amir of the Afghan Taliban, in a drone attack in Balochistan has signalled that the US and Afghanistan’s government have changed their policy of coaxing Pakistan to stop sheltering terrorists who have been hitting their people for the last 15 years. This policy apparently did not move the Pakistani establishment to…
Afghan civilians have been suffering from the negative impacts of growing terrorism in the country to a large extent. They are victimized during the clashes and become the target of suicide and road-side bombings that are carried out by Taliban. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced last month that during the first quarter of 2016, 600 civilians were killed and 1,343 were wounded, representing 1,943 victims (610 children) or 2 percent more…
To come out of the isolation Pakistan faces in the region, the country needs to approach its neighbours with an attitude marked by realism. It is simplistic to divide countries into black and white, ignoring the many shades of grey. It has to be realised that in inter-state relations there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends. The test of diplomacy lies in reducing the number of enemies and increasing that of friends. India should…
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement Thursday it is deeply concerned at the spate of abductions, hostage-taking and summary executions carried out in recent days against passengers travelling in civilian vehicles. Two incidents of mass kidnappings have taken place since Tuesday. In the first incident, armed Taliban fighters stopped a number of busses on the Kunduz-Baghlan highway in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Insurgents executed 10 men from a…
KABUL: Gunmen kidnapped at least 17 people travelling in civilian vehicles in northern Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday. It was the second group abduction within a week in the country. The passengers, all minority Hazaras, were pulled out of their vehicles in Sancharak district in Sar-i-Pul province and taken to a remote area controlled by Taliban militants, the local governor said. “They are all innocent civilians with no government connections. We have asked local elders…
At least 48 militants were killed in separate airstrikes in Paktika province in southeastern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said. The airstrikes targeted the hideouts of the militants in Giyan and Zeruk districts, MoD said, adding that a commander of the group identified as Henzullah was among those killed. The defense ministry further added that 36 militants were also wounded in the airstrikes and various weapons, ammunition and explosives belonging to the militants were…
The former Afghan Intelligence Chief Amrullah Saleh has slammed the National Security Council for blaming the acting provincial governor Ata Mohammad for the fall of Kunduz city. Saleh criticized Tawab Ghorzag the spokesman for the National Security Council for blaming Ata Mohammad for the instability of Kunduz province. He warned to release the 200 classified documents and audio clips prepared by the factfinding team regarding the fall of Kunduz city if Ghorzang did not amend…
MUZAFFARABAD: The speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, Sardar Ghulam Sadiq, received dual salaries and allowances as an adviser and as a member of the assembly for over 31 months in his previous term, according to documents available with Dawn. According to legal and constitutional experts, the move is tantamount to criminal breach of trust and misappropriation, and could land Mr Sadiq in trouble if challenged at the appropriate forum, such…
GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday to increase the upper age limit for candidates who wish to apply for posts in government departments. The resolution was tabled by Deputy Speaker Jafarullah Khan. It will benefit more than 900 candidates who will take examinations through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) in the coming months. “This relaxation is necessary for the residents of G-B because no inductions [could be made] over the…
Illegal mapping is a “serious” problem in remote areas of western China, according to five annual announcements on typical illegal mapping practices released by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation (NASG). Most of those areas are underprivileged and lack sufficient mapping information, and they are often targeted by espionage because many key national defense and military facilities are stationed there, Zhao Kangning, former deputy director of China’s National Administration of Global Navigation Satellite…