WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is seeking to help Pakistan raise $4 billion to $5 billion at an international aid conference in Tokyo Friday in a bid to stabilize the finances of the key counterterrorism ally. Washington’s effort, however, is coming into conflict with Saudi Arabia, which is showing only muted interest in supporting Pakistani […]
ISLAMABAD: The criminal complacency of our elected parliamentarians was amazing to witness. How else does one describe the mood of our House of shame where members could be seen huddled together like excited schoolchildren, joking and laughing, preening about as if celebrating some proud accomplishment. The day after the Swat deal was bull dozed in […]
Khoon key dhabbey dhulein gey kitni barsatoon key baad…’ -Faiz Ahmed Faiz Another dark mark on our Muslim legacy; another welt on a woman’s fragile innocence; another sin on our collective conscience. As the country reels with the shameful impact of the flogging incident in Swat, the international media shrieks yet again of barbaric […]
DERA GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan — Taliban insurgents are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads in Punjab, the province that is home to more than half of Pakistanis, reinvigorating an alliance that Pakistani and American authorities say poses a serious risk to the stability of the country. The deadly assault in March in […]
ON Saturday, March 11, a convoy of 10 double-cabin four-wheel drive pick-up trucks loaded with Taliban armed with every description of portable weapons — Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns — drove from Daggar the headquarters of Buner district to the villages of Sohawa and Dagai in Buner. It entered Swabi district at Jhanda village, […]
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari approved a controversial Sharia regulation for the Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province on Monday after the National Assembly asked for what seemed to be a clear concession to Taliban militants of the Swat valley to implement a peace deal between them and the provincial government. The president […]
Terrorists are carrying out attacks inside Pakistan with incredible ease and stunning accuracy. Taliban are seizing more and more territory everyday. The sense of security and protection in the country is long gone. Everyone in Pakistan is nervous, and nobody knows how and when, if ever, life will become stable or normal. Not only are […]
In a somewhat rare state-sponsored rally, over 8,000 students gathered in Beijing’s Olympic Park last Saturday to show their commitment to environmental protection. The event launched the newest phase of the “Green Long March,” an ongoing effort to bring youth together and initiate a grassroots-esque environmental conservation movement nationwide. Working with the Communist Youth League’s […]
ISLAMABAD: Differences over India’s enhanced role in Afghanistan led to the drift in strategic relations between Pakistan and the United States that caught public eye after prickly Foreign Minister Qureshi pointed towards a trust deficit between the two allies and asked the senior partner for a fair treatment based on mutual trust and respect. Background […]
True to his reputation Richard Holbrooke is proving to be an insightful interlocutor. Other diplomats and commanders might have said it in passing but he is the first one to categorically say that India is part of the ‘AfPak’ problem, or puzzle, and also holds the key to its solution. Terrorism, both in Pakistan and […]
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan seems like a Molotov cocktail waiting for a match. Its ruling elite bickers over politics, while out on the streets Taliban insurgents step up their suicide attacks. Its military plays the role of national conciliator even as it worries about Muslim revolutionaries in its own ranks. Meanwhile, the United States, Pakistan’s historic […]
“Leave me for the moment — you can beat me again later,” a 17-year-old girl begs between sobs in a video airing on Pakistan’s private television networks and circulating on the Internet. But the local Taliban commander continues to flog her without mercy as a group of village men watch in silence. These images were […]
Beijing authorities have announced that driving restrictions will be extended another year, as part of the city’s overall strategy to reduce airborne pollution and traffic congestion, according to reports from China’s state-run media. The plan hopes to take 930,000, or roughly 20%, of Beijing’s over 3.6 million vehicles off the road each weekday. Starting Monday, […]
MINGORA: Pakistani Taliban are moving into a new area in northern Pakistan, clashing with villagers and police in a mountain valley, police and district officials said on Wednesday. Separately, a Pakistani Taliban commander said the Pakistani military and the United States were colluding in US drone aircraft attacks and the militants would take their war […]
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama’s new strategy is causing serious differences between the United States and Pakistan over how to fight the militants hiding in the Pak-Afghan region. US think-tanks and the media believe that the differences revolve around two major issues: India’s role in Afghanistan and the drone attacks at suspected terrorist targets inside […]
