Pakistan’s three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif heads back home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile in London, seeking to wrestle back support for his party three months ahead of a general election. Sharif’s return comes as his main rival, Imran Khan, is in jail, but the cricketer-turned-politician remains popular across Pakistan following his ouster from premiership in 2022, […]

The United States “strongly” encouraged Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, to allow entry for Afghans seeking protection and urged them to uphold obligations in treatment of refugees, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. Pakistan has set a Nov. 1 deadline for all illegal immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans, to leave the country or face forcible expulsion. Some 1.73 […]

Pakistan has long been a refuge for one of the world’s largest populations of displaced people, primarily comprising Afghan refugees. This influx of Afghan refugees into Pakistan began during the Soviet-Afghan War, as millions sought shelter across the border. Initially considered a temporary solution, the protracted Afghan conflict and political instability have prevented their swift return. Consequently, many Afghan refugees […]

On October 14, 2023, at least six non-local labourers, working on a private site, were killed, and another two were injured, by Baloch militants in the Satellite Town area of Turbat city in the Kech District of Balochistan. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed that the operation was based on ‘intelligence reports’ from BLA’s ‘intelligence wing’ suggesting presence of informers […]

The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan has sent shockwaves throughout the region, with its implications extending far beyond Afghanistan’s borders. Pakistan, in particular, is feeling the reverberations of this seismic geopolitical shift. As the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, gains strength and accelerates its attacks, Pakistan’s security landscape is becoming increasingly precarious. The […]

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti Friday warned illegal immigrants in Pakistan to leave the country by the November 1 deportation deadline or the state would show “no compromise” in taking action against them. The interim government had earlier this month ordered all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face expulsion. “In the meetings about […]

Afghans are the most unfortunate ones on the planet that they have in trouble in their homeland and with neighbours, soon after they emerged as a nation in 1747 due to their geography and geo-strategic importance well described by great poet Alama Iqbal, “the heart of Asia and Lord Curzon a British statesman, foreign secretary and viceroy in United India, […]

Among Afghanistan’s neighbors, Pakistan’s longstanding and deep relationship with the Taliban was unique. But as terrorism spirals out of control and refugees spill into bordering states, Islamabad has lost its line to Kabul. When Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, neighboring Islamabad found itself in a unique position. One of the Pakistani generals, believed to have played a […]

Pakistan’s military-backed political establishment is at odds with a population that largely desires democratically elected civilian rule. The country’s ever-present terrorist threat is likely to intensify in the run-up to national elections, which were postponed to January 2024. The difficulties facing Pakistan’s leaders could both aggravate and be aggravated by regional and geopolitical dynamics, particularly those concerning India, China, and […]

Pakistan, a nation known for its rich cultural diversity and vibrant heritage, is currently grappling with a troubling phenomenon: the rise of hate politics. In recent years, political parties in the country have increasingly employed divisive rhetoric, hate speech, and intolerance as strategies to secure their agendas and gain electoral support. This piece shed light on the politics of hate […]