By Myra MacDonald in the Reuters Blog
DAMADOLA: Despite initial military successes against the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan is unlikely to move any time soon to dismantle the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group. As I wrote in this analysis,  Pakistani security officials say the country has enough on its plate fighting militants on its Afghan border without opening a new front in Punjab province, where the LeT is based. They argue this could drive the LeT – which has been careful not to launch attacks within Pakistan itself …

By Patrick Cockburn in The Independent, Apr 16
The Pakistani army has fought successfully to control mountainous frontier areas once ruled by the Pakistani Taliban, but it remains reluctant to attack the cross-border safe havens of the Afghan Taliban despite American pressure.
Pakistani soldiers in Bajaur district on the Afghan frontier are eager to demonstrate what they have already achieved, showing off captured tunnels dug into the hillside by the local Taliban to protect their fighters against air and artillery attack. On display are some rockets and shells and a broken sign …

The reviewer is a staff member of the daily
Book Title:Hijacking From the Ground: The Bizarre Story of PK 805
By Aminullah Chaudry Authorhouse; Pp 350
Aminullah Chaudry’s book begins as an oxymoron. We are all accustomed to hearing about hijackings that, as a rule, take place in mid-air but not this one, one orchestrated from the ground; when conventions are defied and the norm is challenged, the aftermath is talked about for days to come. Exactly what happened aboard PK 805, probably the most hotly debated flight in Pakistan’s recent aviation history, …

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s zeal to insert the “water issue” in the bilateral talks is being seen here as an attempt to divert popular attention back home from the mismanagement of its water resources and the growing discontent in Sindh and Balochistan over the denial of their share of Indus waters.
Analysts here have been struck by the way Pakistan’s political class and the jehadi establishment have teamed up to unleash a propaganda offensive against India’s “machinations” to rob the neighbouring country of its legitimate share of Indus waters.
With leading jehadis Hafiz …

NEW DELHI: Wednesday’s fidayeen attack in Srinagar which finally ended on Thursday was not a one-off strike. It was part of a plan supported by the Pakistani military to step up terror in Jammu and Kashmir so as to avoid an increased engagement against the al-Qaida-Taliban group.
As many as 700 fully-trained terrorists are waiting in the wings to stage attacks in J&K with their “masters” in Pakistan directing them to open “other fronts” as they did in the busy Lal Chowk area in Srinagar.
The fidayeen attacks appear to be a …

RAWALPINDI: Political wings existed in the past and still exist in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said Major (retd) Amir, claiming that they worked for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the Operation Midnight Jackal.
He was talking to Dr Shahid Masood in ‘Meray Mutabiq’ programme of Geo TV in which former PPP minister Mukhtar Awan and former Army chief General (retd) Aslam Beg also spoke. When asked about the authenticity of the tape with regard to Operation Midnight Jackal, Major (retd) Amir said it was authentic but if the Intelligence Bureau …