Editorial in The News, Dec 22, 2022The Afghan Taliban are leaving little to imagination about a complete and unadulterated return to policies of their dark past – especially when it comes to women. The Afghan woman has not had it easy for decades, whether under the 90s’ Taliban regime or during the ‘war on terror’ that wreaked havoc in the country. But the Afghan Taliban seem to have a special anti-women agenda, one that is…
Posts tagged as “Afghan”
by Kamran Yousuf in The Express Tribune, Dec21, 2022ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is in a fix on the Afghan strategy after recent setbacks that have compelled critics and retired diplomats to call for a review of its policy towards the Afghan Taliban. Background discussions with the people dealing with the matter told The Express Tribune that despite apparent friction in ties with Kabul, Pakistan has no option but to seek engagement with the Afghan Taliban regime. The…
by Imran Danish in TOLOnews, Dec 21, 2022The US Department of State said that Washington is not prepared to improve its relationship “with the Taliban” until and unless they actually start to uphold the commitments, they have made to the Afghan people. Addressing a press conference, the US State Department spokesman Ned Price said human rights are at the top of the agenda of his country. “In every engagement we have with the Taliban, human…
by Saleem Shahid in Dawn, Dec 21, 2022QUETTA: With the efforts of a 16-member jirga that visited Kandahar to meet the Taliban officials amid tense situation at Chaman border, a flag meeting held between Pakistan and Afghan authorities at Friendship Gate on Tuesday agreed to resolve all border issues through talks. At the flag meeting, which was postponed earlier on Saturday reportedly due to grouping among the Afghan officials on use of authority and taking…
By Umar Cheema in The News, Dec 20, 2022ISLAMABAD: Although border clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces are worrisome for general public and observers of conflict, Pakistani officials dealing with Afghan Taliban attribute these occurrences to lack of coordination between Kabul and its border security force. They are hopeful of amicable solution soon. “We are more comfortable dealing with the Taliban government than their predecessors in Kabul. Taliban are sincere in resolving the issues. You…
THE situation on the western border is presenting itself as a fresh security challenge for the state, as repeated acts of violence, apparently emanating from Afghanistan, have resulted in an unacceptable loss of life in Pakistan. The fact that the Afghan side has no qualms about targeting civilian areas is particularly disturbing. In the latest flare-up, according to ISPR, the Afghan side opened “indiscriminate fire” on civilian areas in Chaman on Thursday, resulting in at…
by Shahzad Chaudhry in The Express Tribune, Dec 16th, 2022The writer is a political, security and defence analyst.Pakistan’s Afghan sore continues to bleed. As a policy, relations with Afghanistan have mostly bordered on superficial, aspirational and delusional. In search of an ideational chimera termed ‘strategic depth’ it has been a policy of unrealistic promise and zero return. The policy can essentially be divided over three phases. Till 1979 Afghanistan was a neighbour which shared ethnic…
by Umer Gujjar in The Frontier Post, Dec 13, 2022A highly regretful incident occurred on Sunday at the Pak-Afghan Chaman border when Afghan troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from across the border that resulted in the martyrdom of six innocent civilians and serious injuries to 17 others. According to the Pakistan Army media wing, the Afghan border forces used heavy weapons in the attack, while Pakistan’s troops gave a befitting albeit measured response…
by Zahid Hussain in Dawn, Dec 14th, 2022The writer is an author and journalist.IF there were any illusions about Pakistan having secured peace on its western frontier after the Afghan Taliban’s return to power last August, they should have been dispelled by now. The escalation in border clashes and the Afghan Taliban’s patronage of the Pakistani outlawed militant network have heightened national security concerns in this country. The mounting tension between the two countries is…
Less than a month after the first instance of unprovoked firing in Chaman from Afghan security forces, we have seen a repeat incident, and once again, it is unclear why this transpired. On both occasions, the Afghan security forces fired on Pakistan from across the border without any provocation, only this time, 7 civilians were killed as a result with 16 others injured. It was expected that the interim Taliban government would bring stability to…
By Samina Akhter in Pakistan Today, Dec 9, 2022The latest report of Bertelsmann Stiftung’s project ‘Shaping Change – Strategies of Development and Transformation’ for 2022 about Pakistan confirms that the state’s monopoly on the use of force is contested by terrorist organizations, sectarian groups, ethno-nationalist insurgencies, and criminal gangs involved in the smuggling of goods and narcotics. The report says that much of the violence committed by these non-state actors is concentrated in the province…