US drones strike jihadists in Pakistan
The US targeted jihadists based in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Agencies earlier today in the first recorded drone strike in the country since mid-June. The US is likely to step up strikes in Pakistan after President Trump…
How Balochistan became a part of Pakistan – a historical perspective
Balochistan consists of the south west of Pakistan. In the west it borders with Afghanistan and Iran and in the south it has the Arabian Sea. It accounts for nearly half the land mass of Pakistan and only 3.6% of its total population. The…
Pakistan State is the killer of Benazir Bhutto, not TTP. Baitullah Mehsud
Some friends on twitter asked me for the English translation of my Pashto post about our trip to Waziristan to meet TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud in 2007 and the clarification of Mehsud that TTP was not involved in the assassination of…
Pakistan’s Duplicity Continues to Challenge Regional and Global Security
In the wake of United States of America’s (USA) policy towards Pakistan in regard to existence of safe heavens alongside Durand Line in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan has once again tried to dupe its international…
Why Trump Is Right to Get Tough With Pakistan
President Trump deserves high marks for his new Afghanistan strategy. It is bold, reasoned and offers the prospect of success against the violent Islamist groups of the region. But it will also face opposition in the region. The president…
Trump’s Plan for Afghanistan
What a difference four years and a presidential election victory make. In 2013, Donald Trump offered this prescription for what the U.S. should do in Afghanistan: On Monday night, Trump offered a new plan for Afghanistan, combing a military…
Taliban, Daesh jointly massacred people in Afghan village: UN
An investigation team of the United Nations has confirmed that the Taliban and Daesh terrorist groups jointly massacred dozens of people, mostly Shia Hazaras, in an attack that “may amount to a war crime” in a remote northern village in…
Pashtun identity politics in the spotlight
The aftermath of Ayesha Gulalai’s accusations has focused on the way women are treated but it also highlights an ongoing debate over Pashtun identity in public life
70 Years After Pakistan-India Split, Sikhs Search for Home
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN — Radesh Singh's grandfather was just 11 years old when he left his village in India's Punjab province to move to Peshawar, in the far northwest of the country on the border with Afghanistan. The year was 1901: The…
The Witch-Hunt of Ayesha Gulalai: A Reply to Aimen Hayat Khan
The Express Tribune Blogs published an article written by Aimen Hayat Khan on August 4th 2017. The headline read: “Dear Ayesha Gulalai, instead of honouring our roots and culture, you have disgraced every single Pakhtun woman of Pakistan.”…