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Posts tagged as “Pakistan”

Time for an election

By Mosharraf Zaidi in The News, January 17, 2023The writer is an analyst and commentatorThe polycrisis in Pakistan rages on. Urgent questions agitate the condition of the Pakistani. A sovereign default may not be imminent, but an existential economic crisis has raged for months, perhaps years – depending on who is measuring what. How long before economic difficulties cause major social unrest in Pakistan? The dissolution of the Punjab Assembly means that an already frayed…

Pakistan “quietly urging” Kabul to Neutralize Taliban Pakistan

By Fidel Rahmati in Khaama Press online, Jan 16, 2023Pakistan is subtly urging the Afghan Taliban leadership to counter the threat posed by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has intensified its strikes in the country in the recent past. However, the efforts by Islamabad have yet to give any meaningful result, and the interim government in Kabul is still sticking to its earlier position that the only way to resolve the TTP issue is…

Pakistan’s extremism problem

by Dr Sadia Sulaiman in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2023.The TTP has made a comeback in Pakistan’s western border areas which saw an unprecedented surge in terrorist activities in 2022. In view of the evolving threat, the National Security Committee (NSC) met on January 2, 2023 and reiterated their policy of ‘zero tolerance’ for terrorism. Pakistan’s war on terrorism thus seems heading for a long haul. While the government’s sincerity to curb the terror…

6,418 URLs blocked for fake news

report in The Express Tribune, Jan 16, 2023Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque on Friday said that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked 6,418 Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) involved in spreading fake news. In a written reply to the question of Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, he said that the URLs had been blocked following the complaints lodged by stakeholders, including organisations, general public and proactive search pertaining to spreading of fake…

Zero tolerance: Op-ed by Osama Ahmad in TNS, Jan 8, 2023

The prospect of an alliance against the state between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch rebel groups is terrifying. If such an alliance does indeed take shape, eradicating the the militancy will become harder for the security forces. Such an eventuality will also be extremely disturbing for the people of Pakistan. The TTP is an umbrella group of militant organisations operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The group was formed in 2007 with the aim of overthrowing…

Terrorism and negotiations- side by side

By Attiya Munawer in Pakistan Today, Jan 8, 2023Terrorism is the indiscriminate or disproportionate use of violence against civilian targets, a product of modernity and a globalization of the wrong meaning of ‘jihadism’ that shows no signs of abating. This idea terrorism is on the rise again in Pakistan and state institutions are very active in dealing with it, but the ongoing political and economic instability in the country is also a major obstacle to…

War of words

by Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in Dawn, January 8th, 2023The writer is a former foreign secretary and author of Diplomatic Footprints.PAKISTAN’S leadership has lately been engaged in a war of words with the Afghan Taliban. Our frustration is understandable. The Taliban regime in Kabul was not doing enough to stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch terrorist attacks against the people of Pakistan. The National Security Committee meeting on Jan 2, without naming Afghanistan,…

A new Afghan policy

by Muhammad Amir Rana in Dawn, January 8th, 2023The writer is a security analyst.WITH the Taliban having banned their education, Pakistan can allow Afghan female students to complete their degrees in Pakistan. This would allow the country to embark on a new Afghan policy, which it direly needs after its recent disappointments with the Taliban regime. Pakistan’s Afghan policy has remained strategic-centric, which needs a radical transformation. A new Afghan policy should focus on a…

Five members of banned TTP held with arms

Report in Dawn, January 8th, 2023LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Saturday to have arrested five suspected terrorists belonging to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and recovered arms and ammunition during different intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the province. The Punjab CTD has conducted 21 IBOs in different districts of Punjab to avert any untoward incidents. As many as 22 suspects were taken into custody and interrogated. During these IBOs, five members of proscribed TTP were…

Iran, Pakistan Ministers Call for Inclusive Govt in Afghanistan

By Nazir Shinwari in ToloNews, Jan 7, 2023 at 10:03 PMThe foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan in a telephonic conversation emphasized the need for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed concerns over the ban on women’s education and working. “Amirabdollahian expressed his concerns about the problematic situation in Afghanistan.…

People-to-People Engagement, A better Afghan Policy for Pakistan

By Nizamuddin Rezahi in Khaama Press, Jan 8, 2023Following the ban on university education by the Taliban authorities, Pakistan could embark on a new policy by allowing Afghan female students to complete their studies in Pakistan. Despite the souring relations between Islamabad and Kabul on security matters, particularly, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries on Afghan soil, Pakistan still needs to prioritize its relations with the Taliban in Kabul. Considering the rapid changes taking place…