Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Target Acquired On October 25, 2024, a 19-year-old under training Army lieutenant, Arif Ullah, who was on leave at his hometown, was gunned down by unidentified militants during prayers in a mosque in the Sarai Naurang area of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Two other persons also sustained injuries in the incident. According to a press […]

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in Islamabad by urging international focus on the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. While this emphasis aligns with Pakistan’s broader foreign policy objectives, the absence of any reference to Kashmir a deeply rooted and sensitive issue for Pakistan was particularly striking. This omission marks […]

Insurgencies, ethnic tensions and confrontations between local separatist groups and state security forces have long marred Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The violent attack on 11 October 2024 at the Junaid Coal Company mines in Balochistan’s Duki district, where armed militants killed 20 miners and injured several others, serves as a stark reminder of the region’s ongoing instability. Although no group has […]

Pakistan’s security forces conducted two successful intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 9 and 10, 2024, resulting in the elimination of four Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists. These consecutive operations illustrate the country’s continuous efforts to eliminate terrorist networks that constitute a constant danger to peace and security. As security forces keep pressure on militant groups, the most recent […]

On the night of August 25-26, 2024, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a secessionist group fighting for the independence of Balochistan from Pakistan, launched Operation Herof (“Black Storm”), a series of coordinated terror attacks and suicide bombings on a Pakistani army camp, police stations, and other targets, killing dozens of Pakistani soldiers and police officers.[1] BLA executed the Operation Herof […]

In the complex socio-political landscape of Pakistan, the Jirga system has long been an integral part of conflict resolution, especially in the tribal regions of the Pashtun belt. This traditional assembly, which brings together elders and community members to mediate disputes and administer justice, has served as a peaceful mechanism for addressing issues within these communities. The Pakistani government, recognizing […]

It’s an established fact that Pakistani speakers at the United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] repeatedly serve the same old wine brewed by infusing the Kashmir issue with the Palestine problem with a generous sprinkling of institutionalised persecution of Muslims in India with Islamophobia every year. Consequently, people with little appetite or patience for listening to a litany of repetitive remonstrations […]

Will the arrest of several PTI parliamentarians and leaders a day after holding a rally to demand ex-PM Imran Khan’s release worsen the political conflict? The arrest of several legislators and leaders of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in overnight police raids could trigger yet another showdown between the opposition and the government, analysts have said. The politicians […]

The lackluster joint statement that followed the Pakistani premier’s visit to China suggested that the People’s Republic is souring on his country due to its inability to protect Chinese workers there who are helping develop CPEC projects. Pakistan recently announced the start of its new counterterrorist operation codenamed “Azm-e-Istehkam”, which came as a long-overdue response to dozens of cross-border attacks […]

Every year, Pakistan religiously uses the annual United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] podium to repeat its pathetic Kashmir narrative, spicing it up with brazen untruth in an attempt to attract international attention and though palpably incredulous this discourse is [expectedly] hailed as a spectacular diplomatic victory year after year by the local media. This is why Pakistan’s proxies in J&K […]