Foreign Policy Blogs

Pakistan

Pakistani troops reportedly fire on US helicopters

Pakistani troops and tribesmen opened fire on two U.S. helicopters that crossed into the country from neighboring Afghanistan, intelligence officials said Monday. The helicopters did not return fire and re-entered Afghan airspace without landing, the officials said. Pakistan's army and the U.S. military in Afghanistan said they had no information on the reported incursion late […]

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Admit it: this is Pakistan's war

Twelve hours after the blasting of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the flames had still not been doused. The medium-sized Shehzore truck, packed with 600 kg of RDX explosives, drove up to the hotel barrier and exploded, setting the hotel on fire. It is more than likely that, just as he was "pleasantly" surprised by […]

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Marriott bombing raises questions, fears

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The deadly suicide truck bomb attack on Marriott Hotel in the heart of the capital highlights security inadequacies and the urgent need to rethink strategy to combat surging militant violence, analysts said on Sunday. Four foreigners were among those killed, including the Czech ambassador, with more than 270 people wounded in the worst […]

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US urged to boost Pakistan's ability to counter terror

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has conveyed its concerns on airstrikes and violation of the country's territorial integrity to the US, Adviser on National Security Mahmud Ali Durrani said on Sunday. Durrani told a private TV channel that Pakistan had made it clear to the US that violation of its territorial integrity would not be tolerated. "The bottom […]

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Enforcement of shariah in Malakand delayed

PESHAWAR,PAKISTAN: The NWFP government is unlikely to enforce the Nizam-e-Adl Regulations 2008 on the 27th of Ramazan owing to delays in the consultation process and a lack of response from the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM). Officials said the draft was forwarded to the TNSM a few days back, but the Dir-based group had not responded as yet. […]

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Religious intolerance in Pakistan widespread: US

WASHINGTON: While Pakistan was credited with have taken "some steps' to improve the treatment of religious minorities, the International Religious Freedom Report, released at the weekend, described the general situation on this front in pretty negative terms. The report, covering 2007, said, "The government took some steps to improve its treatment of religious minorities during […]

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Bomb Explodes at Hotel in Pakistan's Capital, Killing at Least 40

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan ‚ A huge truck bomb exploded at the entrance to the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday evening, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 150, the police said. The blast, one of the worst acts of terrorism in Pakistan's history, went off just a few hundred yards from the prime […]

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Pakistan's 'bleakest moment'

Just when Pakistanis thought they had a new democracy, ushering in a new civilian government, a new president and the end of eight years of military rule, they are faced with the bleakest moment in the country's history. Proverbially listed as a failing state, this precariously poised country could now be in a downward spiral […]

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US will give $8.4m to avert food crisis

ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: The United States will give $8.4 million to Pakistan through the World Food Programme to provide approximately 11,000 metric tons of wheat for over 1,600,000 people, including students of 3,200 schools. The WFP will begin distributing food aid in 12 districts in the NWFP and Balochistan this month. An agreement to this […]

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Nato chief calls for new approach to Fata problems

LONDON, Sept 18: All sides need to help bolster security along the Pakistan-Afghan border, where recent US incursions have strained US-Pakistan ties, Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday. Speaking as Nato defence ministers gathered for informal talks, he underlined the need for closer contacts between Nato and the Pakistani government, which […]

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Unilateral actions cannot defeat militants, says Negroponte

WASHINGTON, Sept 18: Unilateral actions cannot defeat militancy in Fata, said US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte who also indicated on Thursday that the United States and Pakistan were working on a more collaborative approach to deal with this problem. Diplomatic sources in Washington say that the two countries whose relations have been strained […]

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Washington Is Risking War with Pakistan

As Wall Street collapsed with a bang, almost no one noticed that we’re on the brink of war with Pakistan. And, unfortunately, that's not too much of an exaggeration. On Tuesday, the Pakistan's military ordered its forces along the Afghan border to repulse all future American military incursions into Pakistan. The story has been subsequently […]

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Pakistan close to boosting atom bomb means: report

VIENNA (Reuters) , Pakistan is close to completing a second plutonium-producing reactor, is well into building a third and these could increase its ability to make atomic bombs, a U.S. think-tank said on Thursday. “The wider implication … (is that) there is a real risk this will exacerbate an India-Pakistan nuclear arms race and increase […]

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Pakistan needs to deal with militants: US

WASHINGTON: Militants hiding in the tribal areas are not a threat to Pakistan alone but also to the entire world and Pakistan needs to deal with them, a State Department official said on Wednesday. "We do make clear that there is an important security interest, not only for the United States and the region but […]

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Pakistan: No compromise on US cross-border strikes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan , Pakistan's prime minister said Thursday that strikes by foreign forces were “counterproductive,” as officials said there was no warning about the latest U.S. missile strike in the Pakistani northwest. Meanwhile, militants briefly seized 300 boys at a school in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, police said. The incident ended with the deaths of […]

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