Category: Pakistan

In Pakistan’s borderlands, Taliban quietly expanding influence

With Afghan Taliban now controlling neighbouring Afghanistan, Waziristan residents say they fear a return to life under Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Every night, Muhammad Nadeem gathers his weary body and begins the first watch. His rifle across his lap, he sits at the entrance of his home in the northwestern Pakistani town of Tank and waits. Periodically, he will walk around the […]

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IEA forces arrest suspected smuggler, seize weapons along Pakistan border

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) forces seized dozens of weapons on Monday in Paktika province that were being smuggled into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. According to a statement issued by the Paktika governor’s office, IEA forces seized 38 different types of weapons in the Angoor Ada area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. “The weapons were placed in a Datsun-type mini […]

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Pakistan says militants kill 2 soldiers near Afghan border

Militants targeted a Pakistani military post in the northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, killing two soldiers in a firefight, the army said in a statement. The Pakistani army’s media wing said late Saturday that militants attacked a post in the Datta Khel area of the district of North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The area is a former […]

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Pakistan’s Ignoble Capitulation: ‘Mainstreaming’ TLP (Part 1) – OpEd

“Bizarre that the [Pakistani] government is negotiating and accepting the demands of “India-sponsored and India-directed” organisations.” -Hasan Zaidi , Pakistani journalist and filmmaker In November 2017, protesters belonging to several Sunni religious groups from the Barelvi school of Islam led by Tehreek-i-Labbaik (TLP) Pakistan chief, Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, congregated at Islamabad and Rawalpindi to demand removal of Law Minister […]

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Pakistan’s Regional Economic Integration: Challenges And Opportunities – Analysis

Introduction As the momentum of global economic gravity continues to shift towards East Asia, the contours of a new economic and political geography within South Asia are also becoming visible with enhanced connectivity among western China, Pakistan and Central Asia. Led by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), this transition is already influencing the thinking patterns of politics, culture and […]

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Pakistan’s Ignoble Capitulation: TTP ‘Reconciliation Process’ (Part 2) – OpEd

“Are we going to surrender [to TTP] once again?” — Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed, Judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan Islamabad has always alleged that Indian consulates in Afghanistan were being used as covert bases by its spy agency Research and Analysis Wing [RAW] for orchestrating subversive activities inside Pakistan. It also maintained that the Ashraf Ghani government and Afghanistan’s […]

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Pakistan frees hardline Islamist under a deal to end violence

Pakistan freed a hardline Islamist leader on Thursday, a week after removing his name from a terrorism watch list under a deal to end weeks of deadly protests by his followers, the government and his lawyer said. Saad Hussain Rizvi, the chief of a Sunni militant group – Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) – was released from a jail in Lahore city, […]

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Extremists in Pakistan have been emboldened by the Taliban’s success in Afghanistan

Militant attacks inside Pakistan have been rising, highlighting an uncomfortable truth: America’s exit from neighboring Afghanistan has emboldened would-be militant extremists. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has had a knock-on effect in Pakistan. Attacks by a group known as the Pakistani Taliban are on the rise. Last week, the government signed a one-month cease-fire with the group. But as NPR’s […]

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Islamic State claims attack on Pakistani police barracks

Islamic State militants detonated an explosive device on Saturday inside barracks of the Pakistani police in the district of Bajaur, the group said on Telegram. A police officer and a policeman were killed, it added.

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Pakistan takes far-right leader off terror list to end protests

Saad Rizvi removed from terrorism watchlist, paving the way for his release from detention under deal to end weeks of deadly protests. Pakistan has removed far-right leader Saad Rizvi from its terrorism watchlist, paving the way for his release from detention under a deal to end weeks of deadly protests by his followers over alleged blasphemy. The move on Thursday […]

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