“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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials on Thursday rejected reports published in the media that the new government is selling off US military equipment to Pakistan. IEA officials said there was no truth in these reports and that it was simply propaganda. “We have faced propaganda for the past 20 years… there are video clips that show some military equipment […]

Pakistan and local Taliban militants have agreed a one-month ceasefire which may be extended if both sides agree, spokesmen said on Monday, opening the possibility of a fuller peace accord to help end years of bloodshed. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban and have fought for years to overthrow the government […]

Adoption of hardcore Wahabbism, especially by the Zia ul-Haq regime (1978-88), accelerated the rise of extremist organizations in Pakistan. The book, The Quranic Concept of War, by Pakistan Army officer, Maj Gen S.K. Malik, published in 1979, became the ‘Bible’ of the Pakistan Army. The book opens with Zia ul-Haq focusing on the concept of jihad within Islam explaining that […]