Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province have intensified operations to identify, detain and deport Afghans without valid visas, as UN human rights experts urged Pakistan to halt the return of people who could face persecution, torture or other serious rights violations in Afghanistan. Punjab’s Home Department said security personnel are increasing checks in residential areas and markets across the province. Afghans […]

Turkiye’s intelligence chief traveled to Pakistan after holding talks with senior Taliban officials in Afghanistan, as Ankara renewed efforts to help ease persistent tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban. Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organization, met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Inter-Services Intelligence chief Asim Malik in Islamabad, according to Turkiye’s […]

Pakistan should honor its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia through strictly defensive cooperation and protection of maritime commerce, while avoiding offensive military action against the Houthis that could drag Islamabad into a wider Middle Eastern conflict, alienate Iran, and deepen its domestic and strategic vulnerabilities. The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia was widely considered the […]

Key Takeaways: On September 8, 2026, Khurshid Pandrani Raisani was shot dead by Islamic State Pakistan Province (ISPP) terrorists in the Kank Ziarat area of Mastung District in Balochistan. While claiming responsibility for the attack, ISPP alleged that Raisani was an intelligence informant for Security Forces (SFs). On April 12, 2026, unidentified gunmen opened fire on Shia Hazara vegetable vendors […]

Key Takeaways: In May, an explosion at a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan was followed by an intense firefight in which 21 people were killed. It was just one in a series of violent incidents in which militants operating out of Afghanistan, with support from Al-Qaeda, have launched attacks on targets in neighboring Pakistan. A quarter-century ago, the United States […]

Pakistan’s UN representative has expressed deep concern over what he called growing terrorist activity from Afghan territory, saying more than 4,700 Pakistanis have been killed in such attacks over the past three years. Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Friday, 11 September, marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks […]

Key Takeaways:TTP-linked violence in Pakistan has intensified in 2026, with at least 128 incidents and 559 fatalities recorded by late August (higher than the corresponding period in 2025); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the main theatre, but attacks and arrests now also occur in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh, showing expanded reach.Despite successive large-scale military operations and a partial National Action Plan, TTP […]

Key Takeaways:Ongoing Baloch insurgency and high levels of militant violence in Balochistan continue to threaten Chinese mining investments, particularly the long-running Saindak Copper-Gold Project operated by China Metallurgical Group Corporation.Insecurity primarily disrupts logistics and supply routes rather than the mine itself, raising risks of operational interruptions, higher costs, and potential production threats despite increased Pakistani security deployments.The situation highlights broader […]

Six years after the abrogation of Article 370, official statistics tell a story more complicated than either its critics or its defenders admit. This article draws on data and analysis originally published in The Hindu’s data journalism report, “Did reducing Jammu and Kashmir to a UT and abrogating its special status make a difference?” by Sambavi Parthasarathy, Pon Vasanth B.A., […]

Pakistan has been experiencing one of its deadliest years since 2013 for terrorism-related deaths, with the month of July alone accounting for over 600 deaths. The attacks primarily stem from the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) and the ethnonationalist militant group, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), both organizations with differing goals but overlapping areas of operation. The Pakistani military has blamed the increase […]