TERROR knows no boundaries and perhaps there is no better recent illustration of it than the US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan that allegedly killed dozens of militants whose bodies were buried in Pakistan.It is now widely acknowledged that the shrinking space for militants in Fata, particularly since the launch of Operation Zarb-i-Azb and the recent Khyber operations, caused many militants to decamp to eastern Afghanistan.It is also now an open secret that eastern Afghanistan…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
By Ikram Junaidi in Dawn, November 19th, 2015 Last week, a group of journalists, academics and civil society members from Afghanistan were invited to what was informally known as a ‘Track 1.5/2’ exchange, hosted by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). Dawn spoke to Barry Salaam, a media professional and human rights activist, who visited Islamabad for the dialogue, and asked him about the prospects for peace between the two neighbours in the…
The writer is a lawyer and the Pakistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch “The police asked us, ‘What are you doing here? Go to your own country!’” said Farhang, 31, describing his treatment in Pakistan. “It was 1am … they put all us men in the police cars and took us to the police station … We spent 11 days in jail. Then they took us to the border and told us to cross. I…
The Paris massacre perpetrated by a jihadist band has the whole world grieving alongside the French. In tandem with the condemnations of the jihadist terror have been voices calling for a rethink of European and North American policies dealing with the refugees leaving Syria. While a Syrian passport found near the Stade de France attack site has not been conclusively linked to the attackers, it already fed the frenzy over tightening screws on the refugee…
The writer is an assistant professor at Bahria University. “We view the Taliban as …an important partner in a peaceful Afghan-led reconciliation process. We are not actively targeting the Taliban”, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis. This is a very significant statement given by the US Department of Defense. The Americans have been trying for peace talks with the Taliban for quite some time. Interestingly, the American President George Bush had said in September 2004…
By Imtiaz Gul in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2015. The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad and author of Pakistan: Pivot of Hizbu Tahrir’s Global Caliphate Whenever Afghans, Indians and Pakistanis meet, most of them usually trade stereotypes about one another. They regurgitate cliched narratives and often get bogged down in unpleasant exchanges rooted in history. During…
KHAAMA PRESS, Oct 23 2015, 9:45 am The Afghan national security forces have taken full control of Khamab district in northern Jawzjan province around three weeks after the Taliban militants captured the district. According to the local security officials, the district was fully cleared of the militants presence with the Afghan security forces inflicting casualties to the militants during the operations led by the Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. Gen. Dostum arrived in Jawzjan…
The identification of potential terrorists by the examination of metadata regarding their movements and contacts can be dangerously imprecise — as has been discovered by the bureau chief of an international TV station who is based in Islamabad. Metadata is the word used to describe a collation of small elements to build a big picture. This will include location (of the subject), who they phone and who phones them, the timing and length of calls…
By Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2015. GILGIT: A senior leader of Awami National Party in Gilgit-Baltistan joined Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Sunday, boosting the ranks of the latter ahead of June 8 elections. “My decision to join PML-N reflects acceptance for Nawaz Sharif’s policy for this region,” said Advocate Aurangzeb Khan during a ceremony at the PML-N Secretariat in Gilgit. He promised to work for the betterment of the people under…
By staying the execution of six persons, stated to be convicted terrorists, the Supreme Court has made it plain that the 21st Amendment, passed by the National Assembly early this year, is not a final part of our legal structure and is open to question. The executions of the six men had appeared imminent after the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, on April 2 this month ratified a military court decision that they…
Shujaat demands APC on Iran-Saudi Arabia rift
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain yesterday asked government to immediately call all parties conference so that a joint strategy could be evolved to help dilute tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The PML-Q President said the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran is not in the interest of Muslim Ummah and Pakistan must play role in normalising the relations between the two Islamic states. He said that…