Tag: Taliban

Soldiers without ranks
2Nov By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, Business, Conflict, Opinion

Soldiers without ranks

Young Muslims trained in arms and light ammunition are sought after pawns in the markets of conflict and turmoil. Wearing the masks of Islam, they are out to create mayhem and massacre. In most cases, theses forces are out to challenge the State and its well-structured armies and police forces. In old times, such confrontations were a part of the game between rulers and their opponents.However, in modern times, the rules of the game have changed. Generally, the confrontations take place according to rules of war, as well as according to the international law approved by international community. But in this case, the engagement and employment of pawns is either overlooked or ignored. This strategic game was being played in pre-colonial and even colonial era as a state craft.The rulers who u...
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New China-Pakistan relationship undermines U.S. in Afghanistan
28Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

New China-Pakistan relationship undermines U.S. in Afghanistan

In an attempt to secure Beijing's influence in Afghanistan, China and Pakistan have begun an unprecedented intelligence-sharing arrangement, designed to help China exploit its economic investments in Afghanistan while also stifling outcry over its persecution of the Uighur population near China's western border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.The timing of the new relationship has become disturbing as President Donald Trump decides to pull out U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Now, American intelligence officials, who believe China will capitalize on ongoing problems in the administration's effort to secure a peace deal with the Taliban, says that Beijing will further expand its influence into other contested parts of the region."The reality is now dawning within the intelligence community," say...
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Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC
24Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Pakistan’s ‘Durand Line’ is perhaps bloodier than LoC

The clashes between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani troops along the Durand line - the international land border between Afghanistan and Pakistan – is now every day news.Between July and August, the Afghan Taliban have claimed that they have killed many Islamabad soldiers. The citizens of Khyber Pakhtoonqkhwa are, once again, sounding the alarm and the good old strategy of chaos so dear to Pakistan army and intelligence is becoming more and more complex and elaborate.According to locals, Islamabad is playing on the usual different tables, sponsoring both Taliban and ISIS -Khorasan. According to US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad these two organizations are each other’s’ “mortal enemies, and in the war against ISIS, Taliban have played an important role”. For more than a year the Taliban are re
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Pakistan no longer retains ‘same strategic firm’ for US: Think tank
20Jul By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

Pakistan no longer retains ‘same strategic firm’ for US: Think tank

A European think tank has noted that Pakistan's regional machinations no longer serve a strategic purpose for the United States as it used to be in the past for former American administration. Instead, Washington now appears to be gearing up for a bigger and multifaceted battle with China.According to European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), the fact that Pakistan, China's sworn best friend, no longer holds the same charm for the US it once did was made evident in the US State Department report which highlighted the fact that Islamabad had been designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and that it had been re-designated as a CPC in 2019.The State Department report also drew attention to the fact that Pakistani "...
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The slow poison of Osama: A man, an organization, and the spreading of terror
19Jul By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

The slow poison of Osama: A man, an organization, and the spreading of terror

Since Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan fondly remembers the founder of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, as a “martyr”, it only makes sense to remember him.Osama bin Laden’s Syrian mother was one of the many wives of his millionaire Yemeni father. While his brothers went to the West for higher education, Osama preferred going to Jeddah’s Abdel Aziz University where his fondness for Islamic studies was spurred by two charismatic teachers, Muhammad Qutb and Abdallah Azzam — the first an Egyptian, a brother of the great Ikhwan leader, Syed Qutb and the second, a Palestinian who merged the Qutb doctrine of jahiliyya (ignorance) with modern jihad against the West.In 1980, Osama came to Peshawar to conduct jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.By 1984, Osama got used to spending a lot of t
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Pentagon says Taliban maintains Al Qaeda ties, jeopardizing US-Taliban deal
14Jul By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

Pentagon says Taliban maintains Al Qaeda ties, jeopardizing US-Taliban deal

A report released by the US Department of Defense has prompted the Donald Trump administration to reconsider its deal with the Afghan movement.The report, released ahead of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan under the US-Taliban deal, says that the Taliban continues to hold relations with Al Qaeda.The report appears to be a huge embarrassment for the Trump administration, which is keen on pulling American troops out from the war-torn Central Asian country before the US presidential elections in November.For Trump, the exit will be proof to American voters that he has fulfilled one of his campaign promises to end the endless wars.According to the US-Taliban deal, the Afghan group will stop targeting US and Western-led coalition troops, promising to give no support to groups like Al Qa...
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Imran Khan calls Osama bin Laden ‘Shaheed’ in Pakistan National Assembly
30Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Imran Khan calls Osama bin Laden ‘Shaheed’ in Pakistan National Assembly

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has raked up yet another controversy by calling a slain terrorist and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden a "shaheed" (martyr) while addressing the National Assembly.A viral video clip showed how the PTI leader lashed out at the United States for how Laden had been killed in Abbottabad."We helped the Americans in 'war on terror' but the embarrassment we had to face for their allegations of Pakistan being a safe haven for terrorists is very terrible. Our ally is secretly coming into our country and killing a terrorist and we don't even have an idea," he said.Osama bin Laden was the head of the Al Qaeda and the brains behind the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States in 2001.Osama bin Laden was killed in a military operation by US Navy Seals in 2011 at the ga...
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Pakistan Still On FATF Grey List: When Will This ‘Farce’ End?
29Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Pakistan Still On FATF Grey List: When Will This ‘Farce’ End?

While the rest of the world was busy dealing with lockdowns and COVID-19 related medical news, Islamabad and its army used this 'suspended' time to ‘clean their house’ and deal with a couple of hot issues. In their own way, of course.And the hottest issue on the table was the FATF meeting. June has come, and again, Pakistan will try and avoid being blacklisted by the FATF. So naturally, Pakistan must keep its house in order.Due to the increasing scrutiny on the activities of the terror groups in Pakistan by the FATF, the the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has, in the last few months, been tirelessly working towards shifting the training camps of groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad to Afghanistan.Further, with Taliban’s influence growing in Afghanistan, especially afte
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Pakistan is safe haven for terror groups: US State Department
29Jun By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan is safe haven for terror groups: US State Department

Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally focused terrorist groups and allowed groups targeting Afghanistan, including the Afghan Taliban and affiliated Haqqani network, as well as groups targeting India, including LeT and its affiliated front organizations, and JeM, to operate from its territory, said a US State Department report.The suspension of US aid to Pakistan, which was announced by President Donald Trump in January 2018, remained in effect throughout 2019, the State Department said.“Pakistan took modest steps in 2019 to counter terror financing and to restrain some India-focused militant groups following the February attack on a security convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir claimed by Pakistan-based JeM,” it said.In its Congressional-mandated an
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