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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>US security adviser acknowledges Pakistan’s sacrifices in war on terror</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/924430/us-security-adviser-acknowledges-pakistans-sacrifices-in-war-on-terror</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/924430/us-security-adviser-acknowledges-pakistans-sacrifices-in-war-on-terror#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 15 10:52:20 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Fatemi meets Susan Rice and Chairman Senate Armed Services Committee Senator John McCain in Washington]]>
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				<![CDATA[US National Security Adviser Susan Rice has acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices in the war against terrorism and appreciated its commitment to eliminate the menace.

In a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, both the advisers reviewed the current state of Pakistan, US bilateral ties at the White House on Tuesday, said a PID statement.

While recognising the significance of continued high-level engagements between the two countries, both sides agreed to work closely to sustain and further build the momentum in high level exchanges to further solidify mutual trust and confidence between the two countries.

Rice also expressed the United States' unremitting support for accelerated regional economic development through enhanced cooperation between the countries of South Asia.

Read: US reaffirms commitment to help Pakistan overcome energy crisis

Fatemi and Rice conveyed their confidence that Pak-US strategic partnership would further strengthen and deepen in the future. They also expressed satisfaction at the conclusion of the Second Round of Working Group Meetings under the resumed strategic dialogue.

Fatemi, accompanied by Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, also discussed the evolving regional scenario and how the two countries could cooperate to achieve their shared goals.

The US security adviser appreciated Pakistan's positive approach and outreach to its neighbours as part of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s vision of a peaceful neighborhood.

Both the diplomats also reaffirmed their desire for continued close coordination to realise peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

Fatemi is currently on an official visit to the United States and is meeting senior Administration officials and members of the US Congress.

Meanwhile, the special assistant also met Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator John McCain.



PHOTO: PID

He informed the Senator about the overall security situation in the region and significant gains made by Pakistani forces following Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the military offensive against militants in FATA.

Regional situation including Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and the reconciliation process were also discussed.

Senator McCain expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Islamic State, and stressed the need for collaborative efforts to meet this global challenge.

Fatemi also met Senator Bom Casey and discussed with him Pak-US ties.

https://twitter.com/PakEmbassyDC/status/623884630949806080]]>
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			<title>Crime: Two held on weapons charges</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/587448/crime-two-held-on-weapons-charges</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/587448/crime-two-held-on-weapons-charges#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Aug 13 05:59:09 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Two 9mm pistols, 65 bullets recovered, investigation underway.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Industrial Area police on Tuesday apprehended two persons and recovered weapons and ammunition from their possession. 

On a tip-off, ASI Imtiaz Hussain arrested Ghulam Murtaza and Bobi and recovered two 9mm pistols and 65 bullets from them. Separate cases have been registered against them under anti-arms law and investigations are underway.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Global Counter Terrorism Strategy: Clarity eludes UN on what constitutes terrorism</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/452111/global-counter-terrorism-strategy-clarity-eludes-un-on-what-constitutes-terrorism</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/452111/global-counter-terrorism-strategy-clarity-eludes-un-on-what-constitutes-terrorism#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 12 04:11:45 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[The impasse has prevented the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Being a part of the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, Pakistan has raised concern that the strategy might not achieve the desired results, as two of its four pillars were not getting the attention they deserved, a highly placed source in the ministry of foreign affairs said.


The four-pillar strategy, framed in 2006, was under review in 2008 and 2010, but its implementation had not been up to the expectations, the source added, requesting anonymity. In June 2012, the UN General Assembly embarked on a third review of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.

Pillar 1 states that, “Measures are to be taken to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.” Pillar 2 reads, “Measures should be taken to prevent and combat terrorism. Pillar 3 mentions, “Measures should be taken to build capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and to strengthen the role of the United Nations system in this regard.” Pillar 4 demands, “Measures should to be taken to ensure respect for human rights for all and the rule of law as the fundamental basis of the fight against terrorism.”

The reason for the unsatisfactory outcome of the strategy was that the UN has thus far been unable to adopt an internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Meetings held at the UN to reach an agreement on the issue have been fruitless.

The impasse has prevented the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. Even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the UN failed to adopt the Convention and the deadlock continues to this day.

The Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also expressed its discontent over the matter. The OIC’s view is that there is a need to mark a clear distinction between terrorism and the struggle for the right to self-determination.

Pakistan also took a similar stance during a debate on the Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism at the 67th General Assembly session in September.

“Pakistan’s policy on the issue demanded that combating terrorism should not turn into a clash between the West and Islam, as it has already rejected the concept of terrorism associated with terrorism, as it has no faith, no creed and no nationality,” the source added.

“There is an urgent need to curb the tendency on the part of some countries to use the international sentiment against terrorism for advancing their own narrow agenda,’’ the official said, adding that Pakistan was steadfast in fighting terrorism to bring peace and security to its people and was fulfilling its obligations with great responsibility .

The source claimed that Pakistan believed the provision of the draft convention should clearly distinguish between acts of terrorism and the legitimate struggle of people living under foreign occupation to have the right to self determination.

“Pakistan fully endorses the UN’s role in the fight against terrorism, but it believes that any action against terrorism must be thoroughly discussed and executed by the UN”, the official concluded, while explaining Islamabad’s policy in the fight against terrorism.

edited by frayan doctor

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Stabilising Afghanistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77383/stabilising-afghanistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77383/stabilising-afghanistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 19:57:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rasul.bakhsh.rais]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category><category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[One thing that can never be an effective solution itself is more war in Afghanistan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[At a preliminary level, we may think of stability in Afghanistan as ending the long cycle of conflict and building a durable peace. But how can it be done and why have the communities that comprise Afghanistan, regional countries and the international community not succeeded in achieving this objective fully?

Before I answer these questions, I wish to dispel two common misperceptions about the Afghan people. First, that they are born to fight and it is in their culture to live with conflict and turmoil. This is an absurd idea. Conflict is a social condition that develops when either the state fails to perform its primary functions to ensure social order and justice or, owing to its failures, these functions are assumed by certain social groups that act like the state. Our own experience in recent years in the border regions might explain this point.

The second misperception is that Afghan social groups and their leaders are solely responsible for the chaos that Afghanistan has been through during the past 30 years. It is partly true, but largely false. Superpower ambitions and their power play turned this unfortunate country into their battleground about two decades back. The social, security and political effects of that war continue to trouble the country and its neighbourhood, especially Pakistan. The effects have been truly traumatic for the Afghans — migration, dislocation within the country and perpetual warfare. Outsiders, including us, have usually blamed the Afghans, who happen to be victims of the Cold War conflict which was scripted by the great powers.

In a way, the American-led war, though launched in an unusual national political climate, changed the structure and magnitude of the conflict with two objectives in mind: termination of the Taliban regime and rebuilding the Afghan state. In a way, the Americans had to pay a heavier price for neglecting Afghanistan and for having in place a self-centred policy of walking away from that country once its global adversary — the Soviet Union — was down and out.

There is also an important lesson to be learnt form that painful experience: leaving Afghanistan without effective state capacities to stand on its own feet and defend itself against militants might create greater chaos within the country and around its borders. Otherwise, we may see the same regional game players and agents of civil war stage a comeback.

True, Afghanistan is better off today, in terms of indicators of state and nationhood, than it was when the Taliban movement fought and defeated the various mujahideen factions that were perpetually at war with themselves since the departure of the Soviets. With the generous support of the international community, Afghanistan has made progress, but this needs to be consolidated and further developed. It is in nobody’s rational interest to keep Afghanistan on the boil — except militant groups that have some radical ideology or glorify violence and armed struggle for political gains.

There is no shortage of ideas about how to stabilise Afghanistan. The question is what is likely to work and what is not going to work. One thing that can never be an effective solution itself is more war in Afghanistan. Wars must have parallel political tracks to negotiate, reconcile and accommodate different interests and social groups. Delightfully, that is beginning to happen with Afghan leaders taking the initiative of peace talks and seeking reconciliation with the Taliban groups.

Building peace in conflict zones cannot be a one-step action but a process that would need to be pursued single-mindedly without any fear of failure or slack in efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>The war with the Taliban</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75191/the-war-with-the-taliban</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75191/the-war-with-the-taliban#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 15:23:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[christopher.de.bellaique]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=75191</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[If the US leaves Afghanistan, it is likely that Tajik warlords would take power in Kabul, leading to disaster.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Obama administration has been trying to dispel the impression that its military strategy in Afghanistan is influenced by domestic politics.

The president’s announcement at West Point last December that US troops will start withdrawing in July 2011 — in time to impress voters before his reelection campaign the following year — has been qualified over the summer, not only by General David Petraeus, whom the president chose in June to replace General Stanley McChrystal as commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, but also by the Nato secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on a recent visit to Washington.

The talk is no longer of drawdown but of “transition”, with a “dividend”, in Rasmussen’s words, as troops from newly pacified regions are to be redeployed elsewhere in the country. As of next summer, Vice President Joe Biden has suggested the number of American troops leaving Afghanistan may be as low as “a couple of thousand.” More recently, the flawed parliamentary elections of September 18 appeared to confirm fears that Afghanistan is not maturing politically as the US and its partners had hoped.

Obama was already giving mixed messages at West Point.  Although his tone sounded aggressive and his speech was dominated by his announcement that a surge of 30,000 troops would be deployed “in the first part of 2010,” Obama clearly felt he had to equivocate about the July 2011 withdrawal date — not a course of action, Petraeus later said, that the military had recommended.

The announcement of the withdrawal date had an immediate and galvanising effect on the morale of the Taliban and their supporters, and may have contributed to the Taliban’s continuing ability to attract recruits. This August, the outgoing head of the Marine Corps, General James Conway, suggested that the withdrawal date is “probably giving our enemy sustenance … in fact we’ve intercepted (Taliban) communications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.”’

The Taliban, according to Afghans I spoke to this summer, have been encouraged by US casualties, which have risen dramatically this year — 120 American soldiers were killed in July and August alone and more died in the first eight months of 2010 than in all of 2009. (In August 2009, the insurgents made 630 attacks; this August they made over 1,350.) They also have been encouraged by the sight of Obama’s military allies rushing for the door. The Dutch withdrew their contingent in the summer, and the Canadians and Poles plan to follow suit. In June, David Cameron announced that he wants Britain’s 10,000-strong force to be home by 2015. General Conway predicted that the Taliban’s morale will suffer when they realise that large numbers of US troops will, in fact, be staying after next July, but he also conceded that “our country is increasingly growing tired of the war.”

It seems ironic that only now, nine years after the invasion, are the Americans — having driven most al-Qaeda operatives from Afghanistan so that fewer than 100 remain, and having declared their intention to leave — finally waging war in earnest, increasing the number of troops to almost 100,000 from 30,000 in 2008, and dislodging the Taliban from some areas of their heartland in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.

The surge — combined with intensified use of unmanned drones and the targeted killing of senior and mid-ranking Taliban commanders — has apparently limited the manpower and weapons available to the Taliban, but the enemy is being scattered, not decimated. In early September, for instance, an American-led force took Taliban-held territory in the outskirts of Kandahar, but most of the Taliban forces had left by the time these troops moved in, and there were no Taliban casualties.

The American efforts in the southern Pashtun provinces are aimed at setting up functioning local administrations and then turning over security to the Afghan army and police. The hopeful view of what is going on was expressed in a recent article by Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who was in the war zone this summer.

Boot believes that the surge stands a good chance of success, particularly if corrupt officials can be excluded from local government. The Taliban, he writes, have “no appreciable support” outside the estimated 42 percent of Afghans who are Pashtun — the ethnic group from which the Taliban draw their leadership and most of their fighting forces. He is firmly opposed to a deal with the Taliban in the foreseeable future.

“Getting a significant portion of the Taliban to give up their arms,” he says, “will require inflicting more military defeats on them.” Boot was in Afghanistan as the guest of Petraeus, whom he praises lavishly; it may be assumed that his words reflect the general’s thinking.

A more realistic version of events — one that I heard often in Afghanistan — contends that the military tactics being applied in Kandahar and Helmand are no substitute for a political strategy. There is a strong feeling among high-ranking Afghan and Western civilians who are involved in the effort in Afghanistan that the surge may wrest territory from the Taliban in the short term, but that only a political process of negotiation, reconciliation and power-sharing can bring lasting peace and stability.

These arguments, which I heard in detail, but on condition of anonymity, have some support in the State Department and the National Security Council. In the latter, as Bob Woodward shows in his new book, Obama’s Wars, military officers such as Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, the NSC’s unofficial war “czar”, have expressed grave doubts about whether the current strategy will succeed. Woodward describes Lute’s advice to Obama as follows:

“Lute told Obama he saw four main risks in the ongoing war. First there was Pakistan, the heart of many of the problems without solutions in sight. Two, governance and corruption in Afghanistan — huge problems with no practical fix readily available. Three, the Afghan National Security Forces — army and police — could probably not be cured with a massive decade-long project costing tens of billions of dollars. Four, international support, which was in peril.”

“These are cumulative risks,” he said.

These ideas and doubts have not visibly affected American policy, but they struck me as more convincing than Boot’s optimistic account.

In late 2001, the Americans and their allies met under U.N. auspices at Bonn to decide the future of the newly occupied Afghanistan. Two years later they imposed a centralised constitution on a country whose multiethnic and tribal character demands a strong degree of decentralisation.

In the words of Thomas Barfield, author of the impressive new “Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, ”the enthusiasm for … a highly centralised government was confined to the international community and the Kabul elite that ran it.“ The second problem with the Bonn meeting was that there was no sign of the vanquished. The Taliban had given sanctuary to al-Qaeda. Cruel and backward, their ”Islamic emirate” was denounced everywhere. The peace was a victors’ peace.

That peace, as we now know, has not lasted, and the regime installed at Bonn is failing. Rather than build institutions, President Hamid Karzai’s government developed what Barfield calls a ‘’patrimonial“ model of government, ”in which the government administration and its assets were an extension of the ruler.“ Corruption is now so bad, says Martine van Bijlert, a former Dutch diplomat and codirector of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an excellent source of information about Afghanistan, that ordinary Afghans regard the government as ”morally and politically illegitimate.``

In May, a report by the International Council on Security and Development found that 74 percent of people in Helmand and Kandahar provinces favored negotiations between the government and the Taliban. This is no surprise, since both provinces have big Pashtun majorities, but the confidence of such commentators as Boot and Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution that other regions simply reject any relation with the Taliban is misplaced.

When I was in Afghanistan this summer, I spoke to many Tajiks, members of the country’s second- largest ethnic group, predominant in the northern and western parts of the country, who deplored the Taliban’s brutality and their policies toward women, but still praised them for not allowing corruption; on the whole, they looked with cynical indifference on the prospect of the Taliban sharing power.

Afghanistan under the Taliban had many features of a failed state — it was certainly an odious one — but so long as they observed the Taliban’s laws, members of the country’s Sunni majority could go about their normal business without fear for their lives. Life was more difficult for the mainly Shia Hazaras — a sect of nearly 5 million Afghans who are concentrated in the central part of the country — whom the Taliban reviled as heretics, and sometimes killed.

Still, in many cases they were left in peace. Personal security — being able to plant, to harvest, to move around — is the most important issue facing Afghans today. The Interior Ministry has judged that only nine of the country’s 365 districts are safe. For many of the Afghans who work with the government or foreign organisations, traveling outside Kabul, even to visit relatives in the provinces, is too dangerous.

In a country without security, major humanitarian issues such as women’s education, the freedom to listen to music, or horrendous punishments for adulterers become less pressing. Certainly, from Shias and some women, the two groups that suffered most under the Taliban, I heard opposition to the very idea of readmitting the Taliban to power. Nonetheless a considerable number of Afghans say they would welcome back the Taliban; they feel there would be improved security and less corruption. And some quite Westernized Afghan women, such as the member of parliament Shukria Barakzai, whom I met in Kabul, believe that the Taliban should be given a stake in any future power arrangement.

The US government has weakened its own endorsement of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban by insisting that the Taliban first approve the same constitution that they have spent the past several years fighting to destroy. The Taliban have a precondition of their own: that foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

In fact, neither party’s position is as firm as it makes out, and as Petraeus recently acknowledged, talks between Afghan officials and senior members and affiliates of the Taliban (a famously diffuse organisation, or alliance of organisations) have taken place, though they seem to have been preliminary in nature. In July, The Guardian reported a “change in mindset” in the Obama administration with respect to talks with the Taliban leadership, quoting an unnamed senior official as saying, “There is no military solution.”

That change has yet to show itself in policy, which is dominated by the surge and associated military offensives. US forces have been distributing cash and power generators to shore up local support in areas that they have taken from the Taliban — a practice that is based on the premise, long shown to be false, that the insurgency can be defeated by handouts.

Petraeus’s second-in-command, Brigadier General HR McMaster, has said that he might not be able to demonstrate “significant” progress in the province of Kandahar — the principal battleground — by the end of this year. By that time Obama will have concluded his promised second review of US policy in Afghanistan.

This would be the moment to lay out a political process that would involve the Afghan parties, including the Taliban, with the two states that have the most influence on the various parties in Afghanistan: Pakistan, whose links to the Taliban are well-known and whose desire to influence events in Afghanistan is as strong as ever, and Iran, the second influential regional player, which has at times both opposed the Taliban as well as negotiated with it. Constitutional amendments should also be considered that would grant more power to the provinces and the districts. That would have the advantage of giving authority to people who are respected locally, rather than people chosen by the government or the occupiers.

In Conway’s words, “We can either lose fast or win slow,” but the general is wrong to imply that it is up to the military to do the winning. The surge will be useful only if it convinces the Taliban that the Americans do not, after all, intend to cut and run. That conviction would embolden those among the Taliban who are keen to negotiate. If a political process is to stand a chance of succeeding, the fighting needs to end or diminish significantly.

Opposition between the goals of the majority of Afghans and the other nations involved has always been a feature of the conflict. Thomas Barfield describes the political failures that led to the reemergence of the Taliban after several years of apparent inertia, and the baleful effects that President George W Bush’s neglect of Afghanistan — as opposed to al-Qaeda, which he pursued, though not always successfully — had on security and government services.

Back in 2002 and 2003, Barfield writes, the US presence was “so light as to be invisible.” By the time the Americans began to focus more attention and resources on the country, the resurgence of the Taliban and other Islamic rebel groups — such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-i Islami and the so-called Haqqani network, both of them backed by elements within the Pakistan military — was too advanced to be easily checked.

As late as 2007, it was possible to speak of a rebellious Pashtun majority in the south and east, but these geographical limitations are no longer applicable. The insurgents, Barfield writes, have significant and growing pockets of influence in the northern provinces of Faryab, Balkh, Kunduz and Baghlan, none of which has a Pashtun majority.

The insurgents use Pakistan-educated mullahs to spread their message; they appoint shadow governors and set up courts and tax collection systems that parallel those of the government. Partly in order to appeal to non-Pashtuns, the Taliban have recast themselves as a patriotic movement as well as a religious one, which helps explain why suggestions of partition would be impossible to implement.

The further one gets from the Pashtun heartland, the more the forces opposing the US and coalition occupation of Afghanistan become, in the words of the counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen, a “fragmented series of shifting tactical alliances.”

In some parts of the country, the Taliban and their allies have attracted one side or another in a local feud, and in others they have come to informal power-sharing agreements with the government in Kabul. Sometimes national politics apparently trumps local security. According to a recent report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network, last year in Baghlan province, police who had confiscated a truck owned by a Taliban commander were ordered by the Ministry of Interior to release the vehicle and its driver.

Mohammad Mohaghegh, an opposition leader of the Hazara minority of Shias, compares Karzai’s predicament to that of an earlier president, Muhammad Najibullah. Najibullah’s left-wing government, which came to power in 1986, relied on Soviet backing and its writ barely extended beyond Kabul. Najibullah hoped to draw members of the Mujahideen opposition into joining with him, but they refused because they expected him to fall as soon as the Russians withdrew their support.

In early 1992, three years after the departure of Soviet troops, Boris Yeltsin cut economic and military aid to Afghanistan, leading to civil war between the various Mujahideen groups and the eventual rise of the Taliban.

“Now,” Mohaghegh told me, “we see that the towns are held by the government and the villages by the Taliban. By day, the state is visible, by night, the Taliban.”

Many Afghans I spoke to did not see themselves as represented by the Karzai government and its international backers: the Americans and other Nato forces, a constellation of UN agencies, largely Western NGOs, and the private companies that have been awarded reconstruction contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In theory, these people and agencies are united around the goal of rebuilding the country, thereby strengthening the bond between Afghans and their government. To this end, huge amounts of aid have been injected into Afghanistan since 2001 — more than $455 billion. But on neither side have expectations been met. Rather than create a sense of cooperation, aid has become synonymous with some of the most poisonous aspects of the occupation: waste, inequality and a squalid profiteering that has seen fortunes made from drug smuggling, racketeering and dubious projects to build “infrastructure”.

In Kabul I spoke to the founder of a Western NGO that analyses humanitarian interventions, who asked not to be named because he feared for his safety. According to him, foreign NGOs raise their operating costs by as much as 70 percent when they enter the hostile environment of Afghanistan. Beholden to local middlemen, private contractors extort huge fees from the US military for poorly performed jobs. Providing “security” — a major outlay — often means paying off the Taliban or other armed groups. “And this,” he concluded, “does not leave very much money for the actual work that is to be done.”

According to a recent UN report on corruption, more than half of Afghans believe that international organisations and NGOs are “corrupt and are in the country just to get rich.” Still, this summer Obama asked Congress to increase US spending on Afghan development from around $2 billion this year to $5 billion in 2011, which would include the near doubling (to $1.2 billion) of a fund available for rapid projects designed to win the loyalty of Afghans.

Afghanistan has been unable to absorb the money it has been given, much less bring about the changes that the US and its allies have expected of it. The parliamentary elections of September 18 were severely tarnished by Taliban intimidation of voters, including bombings and other attacks on polling stations, allegations of major fraud, and a much lighter turnout than last year’s scandalously manipulated presidential election.

Results, when they trickle in, are not expected to create a more effective opposition to Karzai in a chamber that is organised less around factions and parties than individuals and their personal interests. Many Afghan families have enthusiastically enrolled their daughters in schools, but most Afghan women wear the burqa, and either cannot exercise the rights that they are guaranteed by the constitution or are not aware that they have them. With or without the Taliban, Afghan society is deeply conservative and patriarchal, and it will take years of patient effort before it becomes less so.

At a conference in Kabul in July, the UN secretary-general and dozens of foreign ministers endorsed unrealistic objectives that the Americans had devised for the Karzai government. The most important of these was that Afghanistan’s armed forces should assume military leadership of the country by the end of 2014 and that the government should cut corruption dramatically.

Few of the Afghans and foreigners I spoke to in Kabul hid their skepticism that Afghanistan’s armed forces would be able to take over security in four years’ time. The army has an attrition rate of about 25 percent, with many soldiers drug-addled and most units operating at partial strength. A recent Afghan National Army operation against Taliban fighters east of Kabul turned into a debacle, with many Afghan casualties.

Equally, one can doubt the government’s resolve to tackle corruption, a problem it has helped create. It recently compromised its own efforts when a presidential aide was arrested on suspicion of soliciting bribes, and Karzai promptly ordered an investigation of the investigators. Since then, allegations of fraud at the Kabul Bank, whose major shareholders include Karzai’s brother and the brother of one of the country’s vice-presidents, have further highlighted the chicanery at the heart of public life. According to the UN’s corruption report, Afghans paid out some $2.5 billion in bribes in the course of 2009, almost one quarter of GDP, and corruption is widely believed to be still on the rise.

In July, I spent a morning with Ramazan Bashardoost, a former minister in the Karzai government whose reputation for fighting corruption has made him a controversial figure. Bashardoost showed me what he described as a list of prominent people who, in 2004, were allocated state-owned land for building villas at knock-down prices, a handout that got much attention at the time but was never investigated. Since the occupation, the price of land in Kabul and other cities has soared. There have been many such land grabs, but not a single successful prosecution of any senior official on embezzlement charges.

I visited Bashardoost in his “people’s tent”, which he has erected in reproachful proximity to the parliament building. Citizens come in to tell him their problems. One group of men told him that the mayor of Kabul had summarily ejected them from shops they had been granted by his predecessor. Another man, a former head of the housing department in a southern province, said that he had been sacked for refusing, in return for “good money”, to collude in the distribution of state land to various warlords. The man named many senior government figures, all of them allegedly involved in the scam.

Finishing his account, the man returned to his own plight. “I was honest and for this reason I am now sitting at home. My wife works for an NGO with the Americans and I am at home.” He wept, not because he had been fired but because, as an Afghan man in a highly patriarchal society, he had been reduced to living off his wife’s toil.

Later that day I met a teacher from Uruzgan, a mostly Pashtun province with strong Taliban links. (Uruzgan is the home province of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar.) His name was Sakhidad Etemadi and he was a member of the province’s Hazara minority, some of whom have joined militias against the Taliban. This summer the Taliban stopped a bus in Uruzgan and beheaded nine Hazara men in front of their families, after accusing them of spying for the Americans.

Having been driven out of his home in central Uruzgan by the Taliban, Etemadi now oversees eight Hazara schools in neighboring Ghazni, where some 200 Hazara families from Uruzgan have settled. Etemadi told me a sad story of his recent attempts to collect his own salary and those of some 100 teachers who are still on the Uruzgan payroll, a quest that had necessitated long and dangerous trips to Uruzgan, fruitless negotiations with a despotic-seeming provincial official and the Education Ministry there — both apparently contemptuous of Hazaras — and immense stoicism in the face of arbitrary power in Afghanistan. When I saw him, Etemadi had spent the past several weeks in Kabul trying to get the provincial official overruled. Back in Ghazni, he said, the eight schools were operating, and his fellow teachers working without pay.

Afghans associate bureaucratic arrogance and corruption with the Karzai government, and it is unlikely that it can be redeemed in their eyes. They also associate corruption with the occupation. But the occupation is needed to prevent the country from collapsing into civil war on a much larger scale than is currently the case, and there is no obvious and appealing alternative to the Karzai government.

Were the Americans to leave Afghanistan, it is likely that Tajik warlords would take power in Kabul, leading to an intense and disastrous struggle with the Taliban and their allies in the south. The best that can be hoped for is that changes in American policies will help Karzai press for political reconciliation, and that new partnerships will be formed that express the interests of Afghanistan’s different communities and their shared yearning for peace.

In the meantime, the war intensifies, with no sign of real victory in sight. The errors of the past — installing Karzai, imposing a centralised system that barely takes into account local power structures, tolerating vast corruption — have made the war harder for the US to fight. It is far from clear that Obama has the vision and courage — or the political support at home and among US allies — to devise policies that can end it.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>'Militants acquiring funds from outside'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77302/terrorists-received-funding-from-outside-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77302/terrorists-received-funding-from-outside-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 14:52:51 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Militants raise funds via sources located outside Pakistan or by extorting Nato supply convoys, says Holbrooke.]]>
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				<![CDATA[US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that terrorists and militants raise funds via sources located outside Pakistan or by extorting Nato supply convoys.

Holbrooke, who is in the federal capital to represent his country at the Pakistan Development Forum, was speaking in a special radio roundtable discussion on Sunday and said this is a serious issue and they are working to address it.

Holbrooke said that US commitment to this part of the world is enduring and encompassing economic development.

The US special envoy said that the process of combat troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would begin in July next year and completed in a phased manner in four years. He clarified that the process of withdrawal is not an exit strategy but a transition strategy. He said they want to return full sovereignty over to the people and government of Afghanistan.

He said that the Taliban’s demand for the removal of President Hamid Karzai is unacceptable. The US and other countries, including Pakistan, support the government of President Karzai and Taliban will have to live with this reality.

Answering a question, Holbrooke said the operation in North Waziristan would be a tactical one and made by Pakistan Army and the government.

Talks on development

Holbrooke said the United States has so far provided about $500 million worth of assistance to help Pakistan cope with the aftermath of the devastating floods.

He said 60 per cent of the $5.3 billion pledges made at the Tokyo moot of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan have been materialised.

The US special envoy appreciated the democratic government of Pakistan for initiating the difficult decision of tabling pieces of legislation in the National Assembly for the imposition of flood tax and reformed general sales tax.

He said Pakistan is one of the most under-taxed countries in the world and it is the obligation of the rich to contribute from their income for welfare of the people and mitigate sufferings of the people in distress.

Towards better understanding

When asked whether statement of President Obama to support India’s bid to seek permanent membership of the UN Security Council would not be unhelpful in reducing tension between Pakistan and India, he said the United States favours greater understanding between the two countries.

He said the US leadership has repeatedly said that the two countries should work out their differences. He said the ability of the United States to talk freely and candidly with both Pakistan and India would be helpful in reducing tensions.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>For men fighting the war, women were ‘easy targets’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77168/for-men-fighting-the-war-women-were-%e2%80%98easy-targets%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77168/for-men-fighting-the-war-women-were-%e2%80%98easy-targets%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 07:31:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[fazal.khaliq]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[While men were directly involved in violence in Swat, women supported the movement in whichever capacity they could.]]>
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				<![CDATA[While men were directly involved in violence in Swat, the valley’s women supported the movement in whichever capacity they could – cooking, cleaning and donating.

The women of Nekpikhel district in particular and the entire valley in general were active members of the militancy movement as they appeared ‘easy targets’ for the militants to preach their ideology.

A resident of Peochar Valley, whose father was a Talib commander, told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity that in the militants’ training centres, women cooked and cleaned for them, washed their clothes, and many even married them. A number of women also volunteered to become suicide bombers. Some women were said to have rebelled against the men in their families and several divorce cases were reported.

Analysts believe that one reason many women took to the ideology was due to isolation. Many women in Swat take over families while their husbands are away from home for long periods of time in order to earn a livelihood.

“A large number of men from Swat are abroad. This means their wives are all on their own with young children. In such situations, they [women] are easily swayed by emotional religious sermons,” says a moderate religious scholar from Mingora.

He said these women supported the movement with all their heart and wealth. “They even donated their jewellery and sent young children to be hired as suicide bombers.”

Swat-based analyst Fazal Maula told The Express Tribune that women were specifically targeted by the militants. “A sort of competition developed. Women were especially motivated and addressed in radio sermons. Donations using fake names were initially announced only to attract women,” Maula says. However, he says, there wasn’t any practical involvement by women other than donations.

“The Taliban movement led by Fazlullah was well organised. In a very scientific way, they exploited women. Keeping in mind that they were confined within the four walls of their homes, Fazlullah used the radio to get to them,” activist Ihsanullah Khan says.

In Swat, the literacy rate for women is also lower than that for men and many believe this made them softer targets. “Illiteracy matters as women from remote areas got entangled in this mess due to a lack of education and understanding,” Maula says.

Apart from illiteracy and isolation, lack of proper religious knowledge also pushed women towards supporting the hardline movement, says renowned social activist Ziauddin Yousufzai. “Traditionally, women are marginalised and socially isolated. Women believed that Mullah Fazlullah [chief of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Swat chapter] was a Mujahid of Islam. This was because women in Swat are brought up in a purely religious environment, which was exploited by the militants,” Yousufzai says.

The view was supported by Nazli, a resident of Charbagh district. “No woman practically participated in the militancy but they were misled by Fazlullah as they were convinced that he was working for the welfare of Islam,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>US drone strike kills four militants</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77164/us-drone-strike-kills-four-militants-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/77164/us-drone-strike-kills-four-militants-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 07:21:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Two missiles fired by a US drone hit Ahmad Khel village.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A US drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday killed four militants, destroying their compound and a vehicle, local security officials said.

Two missiles fired by a US drone hit Ahmad Khel village, some 25 kilometres west of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency, local security officials said.

“It was a US drone attack, one missile hit a house and another hit a vehicle.

“We have reports that four militants were killed,” an intelligence official in Miramshah said.

A second intelligence official in the town confirmed the attack and the death toll, while a security official in Peshawar said two drones fired four missiles, hitting a vehicle and killing three militants.

The area is considered a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked fighters and has seen a dramatic rise in US drone strikes.

Officials in Miramshah and Peshawar said they are trying to ascertain the identities of those killed and if there was a ‘high-value’ target among the dead.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan used terror as a hedge: Clinton</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76919/pakistan-used-terror-as-a-hedge-against-india-clinton</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76919/pakistan-used-terror-as-a-hedge-against-india-clinton#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Nov 10 07:13:08 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[Clinton says Pakistan used terrorist outfits against its neighbours to not have its position undermined by them.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan has supported terror outfits as a hedge against India and an unfriendly Afghan regime in the past, said US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in an ABC News interview, the transcripts of which were released by the state department.

“By supporting groups that will be their proxies, Pakistan has tried to prevent India or an unfriendly Afghan regime to undermine its position,” she said. However, Clinton said that things are changing and that she can no longer confirm whether Pakistan is still using terror as a weapon against India and Afghanistan.

The US secretary of state accepted that the US had created certain radical outfits and supported terrorists like Osama bin Laden to fight against the erstwhile Soviet Union, but that the backing had boomeranged. “Part of what we are fighting against right now, the United States has created. We created the Mujahideen force against the Soviet Union. We trained them, we equipped them, we funded them, including Osama bin Laden. But it did not work out so well for us,” she said.

Clinton said that Pakistan is paying a “big price” for supporting the US war against terror groups. “I think it is important to note that as they have made these adjustments in their own assessments of their national interests, they are paying a big price for it. It is not an easy calculation to make. But we are making progress in Afghanistan. We have a long way to go and we cannot be impatient. Well, the headlines are bad. We are going home. We cannot do that.” Appearing on the same ABC show, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said that Pakistan has withdrawn an equivalent of about six divisions of its army from the Indian border and moved them to attack the Taliban. “They are attacking the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and their safe havens that are a problem for us,” he said. “But there is a trust deficit in both the countries. Pakistan and Afghanistan believe that we walked away from them at the toughest moments of their history. You cannot recreate that trust in a heartbeat,” he added. Gates acknowledged that both the countries are worried that US would leave whether problems in Afghanistan are solved or not, leaving “whatever remains in their hands to deal with”.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Taliban attack NATO base in east Afghanistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76885/taliban-attack-nato-base-in-east-afghanistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76885/taliban-attack-nato-base-in-east-afghanistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Nov 10 08:06:37 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nato's ISAF, ANA soldiers stationed at Jalalabad airport attacked, eight militants killed.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Taliban fighters launched a pre-dawn attack on a Nato base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, triggering a firefight with foreign and Afghan forces that left eight militants dead.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said its troops and Afghan National Army (Ana) soldiers stationed at Jalalabad airport came under attack, but that none of their forces were killed.

"The forward operating base received small arms fire from an unknown number of insurgents and after gaining positive identification of insurgent fighting positions an Ana and Isaf quick reaction force was sent to the area," it added. "Initial reports indicate no Ana or Isaf service members were killed." One of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest, Isaf said.

Eight attackers were confirmed to have been killed, said Nangarhar provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzoi .

The Taliban, which often exaggerates details of its attacks, including foreign casualties, said that 14 suicide bombers were involved. "They entered the airport. Some of them have blown themselves up. Some of them are still fighting," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid added several hours after explosions and firing was first heard in the vicinity.

Saturday's incident came after a failed suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, which was aimed at a convoy of foreign and local troops near a military base. Kabul has suffered relatively lightly in recent months from the deadly guerrilla war being waged across Afghanistan against some 150,000 US and Nato troops, particularly in the south.

Isaf said separately on Saturday that foreign troops and Afghan soldiers detained "a senior Taliban leader" and several other suspected militants after discovering a significant weapons cache in the southern Helmand province. The joint operation on Friday was aimed at disrupting the Taliban's efforts to raise funds for the insurgency through drug-trafficking across the porous border with neighbouring Pakistan, it added. The suspected Taliban militant was also allegedly involved in the supply of weapons and improvised explosive devices, which are the group's weapon of choice against foreign forces, a statement said.

Several armed insurgents were killed on Friday in an air strike targeting a senior Taliban leader in northern Baghlan province, another statement said. Afghanistan's interior ministry said a haul of homemade bombs was uncovered in northern Kunduz province, also on Friday, and that five rounds of IEDs were defused in three southern provinces.

The hardline Taliban militia claimed responsibility for another brazen daylight attack on the Jalalabad air base in June, which saw a car bomb set off and rockets fired at foreign forces. A number of assailants were killed and two service personnel were injured during the attack, which came just days before US General David Petraeus took up his post as Nato's top commander in Afghanistan.

Jalalabad has more than 2,500 military and civilian personnel and is one of Nato's largest bases in Afghanistan after Kandahar in the south and Bagram, north of Kabul. Kandahar and Bagram have also been targets for Taliban attacks in the past.]]>
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			<title>9/11 mastermind to remain in detention without trial: report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76878/911-mastermind-to-remain-in-detention-without-trial-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76878/911-mastermind-to-remain-in-detention-without-trial-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Nov 10 07:11:55 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The Washington Post says Khalid Sheik Mohammed will likely remain in military detention for foreseeable future.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, will likely remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed administration officials, the newspaper said the administration of President Barack Obama has concluded that it could not put Mohammed on trial in a federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York.

There is also little internal support for a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because it would alienate Obama's liberal supporters, the report said.

The White House has made it clear that a federal prosecution of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators has not been ruled out, the paper said.

But officials says a trial is unlikely to happen before the next presidential election and would require a different political environment, The Post noted.]]>
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			<title>Strategic grandeur</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76479/strategic-grandeur</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76479/strategic-grandeur#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 10 18:55:30 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[raza.rumi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan is under attack from within. How can the good Taliban in the neighbourhood be good for the country?]]>
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				<![CDATA[As if Pakistan’s domestic woes were not troubling, the unravelling of the US strategy and its implications are eluding even the best of strategists. Mind you, Pakistan is a place every third person is a ‘strategy’ expert and the term ‘strategic’, thanks to the militarisation of the Pakistani mind, is an ever-popular reference. The ideological domination of Pakistan’s discourse is a palpable reality. This is why, across the political spectrum one finds a sense of victory over the failure of US strategy in Afghanistan. This failure is interpreted as the validation of Pakistan’s ‘genuine’ and ‘legitimate’ interest in Afghanistan.

What has worried me most in recent weeks is the capitulation of the liberal-secular chatterati to this pop-discourse of military war games. One is not surprised when former generals and the hawkish hordes of former Foreign Office mandarins express their jubilation. But when supposedly rational and progressive experts pontificate about how ‘we’ have made ‘them’ fail, it is simply shocking.

This identification of Pakistani nationalism and patriotism with the invasion of Kabul through proxies is a strange phenomenon. If I am not being too cynical, national pride, even in the jingoistic confines of nation-state narratives, has several other dimensions which are simply ignored. Those who are celebrating the US/Nato withdrawal (full or partial) are prima facie ignorant of the grave consequences of a Taliban regime in southern Afghanistan. Three questions are of import. First, whether the delinking of Afghani Taliban will take place in actual terms or not. Second, where would the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan be within the cooperation matrix; and third, what will happen to the larger issue of extremism and sectarianism in Pakistan?

Thus far, these three issues remain unaddressed. The Jekyll-Hyde nature of state engagement with the issue of militancy is not sustainable. Above all, Pakistan’s tottering democracy is going to be further strained if the tide of Talibanisation gets out of control. This is where we find the policy debate unimaginative and regurgitating the national security fables, removed from the long-term interests of Pakistan. We need to reassess state priorities. Our economy is in doldrums due to the refusal of Pakistan’s elites to pay taxes and their perennial squandering of public resources. Our youth is directionless, trapped in outdated collapsing education systems that do not provide skills. And jobs are not keeping pace with the demand. Sectarianism is now embedded in the social fabric and extremism has acquired legitimacy under the dominant ideology of global political Islam. In these circumstances, ruling Kabul to contain the enemy — India — is hardly something to celebrate. If anything, Pakistan’s economy will get a boost through regional economic cooperation. But these concerns are marginal to mainstream strategic thinking. In fact, strategy is now a reflection of an adhoc, short-term view of military might and dominance.

Pakistan is under attack from within. Its geostrategic location, admittedly, makes it difficult to focus exclusively on domestic imperatives. How can the good Taliban in the neighbourhood be good for the country? We are in an intractable situation, victims of our history and geography. Most importantly, we are victims of our own delusions of grandeur. Any change will have to re-engineer the Pakistani mind and disarm it of martial narratives. A tall order, but without achieving this our downward slide will continue and is likely to accelerate once the Americans start pulling out and our strategic assets march on to reclaim the depth we had gained in the 1990s.

Are we condemned to repeat history? Only time will tell.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Six killed in North Waziristan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76070/six-killed-in-north-waziristan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/76070/six-killed-in-north-waziristan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 10 04:40:54 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[US missiles target militants in the tribal belt, killing six men returning from an insurgent bastion in Afghanistan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A salvo of US missiles targeted militants in the tribal belt on Thursday, killing six men returning from an insurgent bastion in Afghanistan, security officials said.

Six missiles slammed into the group in North Waziristan. The missiles targeted the group about 12 kilometres from Miramshah, in an area that borders Khost in eastern Afghanistan.

“Several unmanned US aircraft fired six missiles targeting militants in Gulli Khel village near the Ghulam Khan district of North Waziristan,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said that the militants had been returning on foot from Afghanistan, although a local intelligence source in Miramshah said that the US missiles targeted a compound of militants from the Haqqani network.

Thursday’s strike was the second this week, after a similar operation killed at least nine suspected fighters near Miramshah on Sunday.

Around 220 people have been killed in more than 40 strikes since September 3.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Six militants killed in Orakzai</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75673/six-militants-killed-in-orakzai-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75673/six-militants-killed-in-orakzai-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 10 09:46:55 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[express]]>
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				<![CDATA[Six militants killed in clashes with security forces in lower Orakzai, one security official killed.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Six militants were reported killed in Lower Orakzai Agency on Thursday during clashes with security forces. 

Militants opened fire on security forces' vehicles that were patrolling the Gawak Area of Lower Orakzai Agency, killing one security official.

The security forces retaliated and killed six militants.

Orakzai used to be a hub of militants but the militant stronghold has weakened considerably since the military operation was launched in the area.

Several militant hideouts have been destroyed and caches of arms and ammunition recovered during the operation.]]>
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			<title>15 militants killed in Upper Orakzai</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75015/security-forces-kill-17-militants-in-orakzai-swat</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75015/security-forces-kill-17-militants-in-orakzai-swat#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 10 04:50:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[manzoor.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=75015</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Security forces also conduct search operation in Syed Khel and arrest 3 militants including key commander Ziaullah.]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least 15 militants were killed and 20 others suffered injuries, when fighter jets bombed their hideouts in the Upper Orakzai Agency on Wednesday, sources said.

The attacks targeted militant safe havens in the Mamozai, Akhund Kot, Garina and Barjat areas of the Upper Orakzai Agency. The sources added that at least 15 militants were killed and 20 others were injured in these aerial assaults, which were carried out at around 11:00am. Sources further said that at least three militant hideouts were also destroyed.

Separately, security forces conducted a search operation in the Syed Khel area of the Lower Orakzai Agency and arrested three militants, including key militant commander Ziaullah.

The attacks in Orakzai Agency come after a quiet period during the ongoing military operation, which is on since March 24 this year.

Security forces claim clearing at least 90 per cent of the territory with the exception of main militant stronghold of Mamozai in Upper Orakzai Agency.

Recently, around 26 Sikh families living in Lower Orakzai Agency, who had left the area due to militant excesses earlier last year, returned to their homes after the authorities asked them to come back.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Ransomed education</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75265/ransomed-education</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75265/ransomed-education#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 10 17:41:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=75265</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Abducting a man who has dedicated his life to teaching, shows the disregard for basic norms of humanity.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The vice chancellor of the Islamia University Peshawar, Professor Ajmal Khan, has been held by the Taliban for over two months. In a second video released by the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), he has read out a message, stating he will be killed by November 20 if the militant group’s demands are not met. In response, vice chancellors and teachers have agreed to keep universities across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa closed and students have been staging protests across the province.

It is unclear precisely what the TTP is demanding. The provincial government says it has received no communication from them and in the two videos put out, no details have been provided of what they seek. It is, however, safe to guess that demands include the release of militants in detention. Similar tactics have been used before. These pose a huge dilemma for authorities — giving in could encourage the TTP to resort to more such actions. Ignoring them could result in the death of a highly respected educationist. As it is, education at universities is suffering as classes remain suspended.

The kidnapping once more exposes the nature of the TTP and the degree of its ruthlessness. Abducting a man who has no role to play in policy making or governance and has dedicated his life to teaching, shows the disregard for basic norms of humanity. It would be a terrible tragedy were he to be killed. A strategy needs to be devised to determine how best to proceed. We expect our intelligence agencies to have a good idea of who the persons behind the abduction are and where Professor Ajmal is being held. They have, after all, for many years now been assigned to keep track of the TTP. Whatever method is used, the authorities must make an attempt to rescue a man who does not deserve to be undergoing the ordeal of the kind he has been suffering since September 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Gilani to visit Kabul for talks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75022/gilani-to-visit-kabul-for-talks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/75022/gilani-to-visit-kabul-for-talks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 10 07:25:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=75022</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PM Gilani accepts Afghan president's invitation, both countries vow to work more closely to combat extremism.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has accepted Hamid Karzai's invitation to visit Afghanistan on an official visit for talks.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have vowed to work more closely to combat extremism, Hamid Karzai's office said on Wednesday after talks between the Afghan president and Pakistan's prime minister.

Karzai's office said that the pair spoke by telephone on Tuesday evening and discussed areas where the two neighbours could cooperate more, including on economic ties.

"Both sides emphasised more cooperation and coordination between security institutions of the two countries in the war against terrorism," the statement said.

The pledge comes amid continued unrest in Afghanistan, where more than 150,000 foreign troops are battling Taliban insurgents whose leadership is widely believed to be based across the border in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

US President Barack Obama, in a speech in the Indian city of Mumbai last weekend, said that Islamabad was making progress on tackling what he called the "cancer" of extremism but it was not happening quickly enough.

Former US president George W Bush, in his new memoirs, also said that Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf "either would not or could not fulfill all of his promises" on targeting al Qaeda militants crossing over the porous border with Afghanistan.

He blamed elements in the Pakistani intelligence services for maintaining close ties with militants and others who wanted an "insurance policy" in case of a US withdrawal and any attempt by India to gain influence in Afghanistan.

For his part, Musharraf blamed India for trying to foment trouble in Pakistan by supporting Pakistani separatists and extending its sphere of influence in Afghanistan under the guise of humanitarian and civilian projects.]]>
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			<title>Financing terrorism: Show me the money</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74843/financing-terrorism-show-me-the-money</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74843/financing-terrorism-show-me-the-money#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 10 03:51:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Salman Siddiqui]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74843</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Army, law enforcement agencies lack counter-terrorism strategy that can throttle the financial bloodline of militants.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan seems to lack a counter-terrorism strategy that cuts off the financial blood line of militants, analysts say.

“Our strategy seems to be focused only on bombing Waziristan,” says analyst Zahid Hussain. “No one is focusing on cutting off the supply lines of militants.”

Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, agrees. “The Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies need to tackle this problem head on if they’re serious about dismantling the firepower of terrorists.”

The money trail

There are two basic funding channels for the militants. First, there are the established infrastructures of money generation such as charity collected through Zakat, madrassas and mosques, businesses and revenue earned through shops built around these places of worship, the collection of animal hides and remittances sent from overseas Pakistanis.

Only a fraction of the funds comes from this channel, increasing dependence on the other source: income through criminal activities such as bank robberies, kidnapping for ransom, banditry, illegal taxation and drugs.

According to Omar Shahid, SSP of the anti-extremism cell of the Sindh police’s Crime Investigation Department, apart from one or two Saudi or other Gulf princes who may be funding terrorists in an individual capacity, there’s no evidence that foreign states are funding homegrown militants.

“The problem is more localised now,” Shahid says, adding that the main source comes through Pakistani people, most of whom unwittingly contribute to militant funds through charity.

However, Hussain says that money through charities from Gulf countries especially find its way into the wrong hands.  Just four or five years ago, this charity was close to Rs90 billion. “Now where does all that money end up?” he asked.

A major chunk is collected through Zakat money from Karachi and Faisalabad, says Rana. Hussain substantiates that view. “One can take the example of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, which was funded by various prominent businessmen,” he said.

Cost of a suicide jacket

Shahid’s unit recently caught a teenaged suicide bomber, armed with a suicide jacket, and two of his handlers in Karachi who were allegedly affiliated with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. “The handlers covered their operational costs through collection of hides in the name of a madrassa,” Shahid said.

Commenting on the cost of making a suicide jacket, he said it doesn’t require a lot of money to make the device. “It costs anywhere between Rs50,000 and Rs100,000.”

Illegal taxes

Also, during Eid, Mehsud tribesmen living in Karachi are forced to pay ‘bhatta’ in the name of donations for fighters in Waziristan. “Last Eid, we received reports that ‘parchiyaan’ (tickets) were collected from each trader in Sohrab Goth (in Karachi) for this purpose,” Shahid said.

“There are many layers to collection of funds in tribal areas. For example, if one group of militants collects money through criminal activities in Darra Adam Khel then another collects illegal taxes in Bajaur, etc,” Rana said.

According to Hussain, using drug money to finance terrorism is more of a phenomenon in Afghanistan. However, Rana says that in Pakistan, the smuggling route used to transfer drugs and other illicit items is taxed by militants operating in those areas.

Lack of training

The Pakistan Army and local law enforcement agencies, including police and rangers, are neither trained nor look deep into the financial trail of a terror-related crime. Even though intelligence agencies keep a tap on militant networks, the bulk of their operations is limited to wire-tapping and intercepting militant conversations.

Director-General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Waseem Ahmad insists that his organisation has a counter-terrorism wing that includes a section on financing. “We monitor all home remittances coming into the country through money exchange and wire services like the Western Union,” he said.

Ahmad said that the FIA has also stayed in touch with international policing bodies like Interpol to liaison requests to monitor certain suspicious transactions. The FIA does all this in close coordination with the financial monitoring unit (FMU) that comes under the finance ministry and whose offices are located in the State Bank of Pakistan building in Karachi. Ahmad said that all the people housed in the unit are professionals with expertise in economics and forensics.

Hawala system

According to Ahmad, despite “strict” checks and pressures to monitor the illegal hawala system of sending remittances home, he was informed in an exclusive presentation recently that around 10,000 people or locations are still available in the country from where such illegal transactions take place.

More than four million Pakistani migrants are estimated to be living abroad, 47 per cent of whom are believed to be in the Middle East. According to a State Bank report, $7 billion flow into the country through hawala channels each year.

According to a private banker in Karachi, most people such as daily wagers in the Middle East find the hawala to be a hassle-free system that offers better rates than most exchange companies. Also, she pointed out, people forget about money transfers taking place within the country. “Keep in mind that one doesn’t need a large amount of money to carry out a suicide attack. Say, a group wants to carry out a single suicide mission in the city under the budget of Rs100,000, money could be sent from Islamabad or Peshawar through new schemes using fake NIC numbers,” she added.

Grey areas?

Rana stressed that more investigation is required to monitor the huge amounts of money that get pumped through stock exchange markets such as the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE).

It has been alleged that various powerful stockbrokers in the country, working on behalf of criminal syndicates and underworld dons, use the stock markets to convert black money into white. Reportedly, much of this money also lands into coffers of militants and their sympathisers.

When asked whether he was looking into scams involving the KSE, the FIA chief said “we are still looking into this.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>'Heart' of Al-Qaeda in Afghan-Pakistan border: Gates</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74571/heart-of-al-qaeda-in-afghan-pakistan-border-gates</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74571/heart-of-al-qaeda-in-afghan-pakistan-border-gates#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 10 11:42:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74571</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Defence Secretary Robert Gates says al Qaeda also spreading influence to the Arabian peninsula and northern Africa.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the "heart" of al Qaeda remained in the Afghan-Pakistan border area even as it spread its influence to the Arabian peninsula and northern Africa.

As al Qaeda's leaders continued to operate out of the border area, "they provide the guidance, they provide the priorities, they provide legitimacy to other al Qaeda affiliates that are developing in other places, including in the Arabian peninsula, in Yemen in particular and in northern Africa, in the Maghreb," Gates told reporters.

Gates, who met Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is in Malaysia for a one-day visit to bolster defence ties amid concern in the region over China's growing economic and naval power.

However, in its fight against the al Qaeda terror network, the US had "strong friends", including France and predominantly Muslim Malaysia, he said.

"We're not in this fight by ourselves. We have some strong friends who see their own self-interest in dealing with this threat of extremist terrorism. So I'm confident that we will have the resources and the capability to continue to deal with it," he said.

"When we point to the Maghreb, France is very much involved and when we are taking about Asia, this is one of the areas which the US and Malaysia are co-operating in. So we are not in this fight by ourselves."]]>
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			<title>Reading our books</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74202/reading-our-books</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74202/reading-our-books#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 19:04:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shahzad chaudhry]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74202</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Perhaps the Pakistani military’s main occupation should not be to win wars, but to avoid losing any.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Being a military man in any cyclical iteration of a political dispensation is not easy, even when retired. At a recent talk show, a comely participant did not forget to remind me that the huge Pakistani military had actually never won a war. Ejaz Haider makes the same point in these pages when he lauds the military’s tactical brilliance but laments inadequate strategic understanding. He calls it, “the senior military leaders not having read their Clausewitz”; he makes a valid point.

It is usual to hear that Pakistan lost an opportunity to win Kashmir when India was busy fighting China in 1962. However, two things must be taken into account. For one, it would have been a magnificent diplomatic blunder to have jumped into another’s war; and two, those who were around then would remember that Pakistan was singing of friendship and brotherhood with the Indians at the time. We began to get our act together with the Chinese only two years later, possibly in preparation for our own adventure in 1965, assuming that a once beaten Indian is as good as a dead Indian. 1962 was also the time when the Americans provided Pakistan with the second major arms tranche and may in return have gotten an undertaking that Pakistan would not back-stab India.

1965 was indeed a strategic blunder. We ventured out to win Kashmir and failed. Someone thought India wzould not open up on the international border when ‘Operation Gibraltar’ was launched across the ceasefire line but she did. The person who said so was not a military man but he got the whole lot of them sucked into an unsustainable logic. The army had certainly not read their ‘Clausewitz’. Out to win Kashmir, we almost lost Lahore, except for the tactical brilliance of a few. More importantly, the 1965 war put us behind in economic terms. President Ayub had to relinquish power after sugar prices touched the unprecedented high of five rupees per kilo.

1971 was payback time for 1965. India had survived two scares, 1962 and 1965, without their ‘nut-cracker’ having materialised to their relief; the eastern front in 1965 was only an appendage to the main war in the west. Decrepit politics of the western wing provided sufficient reason and a ripe political environment in East Pakistan for India to put their plan into play. Pakistan all along had a strategy – for a change – and it called for ‘defending the east in the west’. Not only was it faulty to the core, it was blown to smithereens as the Indians, who had read their Clausewitz well, vanquished the Pakistanis in a smart politico-military manoeuver. No amount of tactical brilliance could correct the flaws in the basic strategic conception.

The two Afghan wars, 1979 and 2001, are different formulations entirely. While Pakistan and the Americans lay claim to their 1989 victory against the USSR in Afghanistan, both were back in Afghanistan in 2001 to bring closure to the incomplete earlier war. To-date, the effort is still on without a way out in sight. What this effort might unleash as residual effects on the region will test the strategic sense in the second iteration. Kargil was another story, unworthy of mention.

So yes, Ejaz is right. We need to read our books better. My worry: even Clausewitz may have become irrelevant in current times. There is a need to create our own formulations and read strategy as the final arbiter of peace rather than war. For that, politics will need to grow as well.

To return to the comely participant’s assertion: perhaps the Pakistani military’s main occupation should not be to win wars, but to avoid losing any. That shall make immense strategic sense.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Deciphering the Darra attack</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74204/deciphering-the-darra-attack</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74204/deciphering-the-darra-attack#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 19:03:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.munir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74204</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It is instructive to give a background to Khyber agency so that culprits can be identified, tracked down.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Following last week’s devastating suicide attack on a mosque in Darra Adam Khel, perhaps it is instructive to give a backgrounder to the agency where it is located – Khyber – so that the culprits behind the attack can be identified and tracked down.

There are seven Tribal Agencies and six Frontier Regions (FR) in Fata. FRs are the tribal areas located between two settled districts, not bordering Afghanistan. Darra Adam Khel is one such FR and comes under the administrative control of the deputy commissioner of Kohat. The area is administered through the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) by an assistant political agent. Located between Peshawar and Kohat, this FR is famous for manufacturing of all kind of weapons and is inhabited by five sub-tribes of Adam Khel Afridi.

In 2006, one Momin Afridi raised a small Taliban force in the area. Tariq Afridi, an activist of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was appointed as number two of the force. Darra is a notorious hideout for criminals involved in car theft, kidnapping for ransom, fake currency business and the narcotics trade. As per the normal strategy of the Taliban, they initiated action against the known criminals of the area.

By 2007, the Taliban had succeeded in gaining the sympathy of some of the local tribals. They gained control of Darra Market, stopped barbers from shaving beards, banned music and imposed restrictions on girls’ education.

Tariq Afridi established contacts with Baitullah Mehsud and wanted the Darra Taliban to become part of the main Taliban organisation. Momin Afridi wanted to consult with the tribals before taking any such step. Within a few days, Tariq’s men killed Amin Afridi, a close associate of his rival Momin Afridi — and the latter fled to North Waziristan. In the spring of 2007, Tariq Afridi, along with about 20 Uzbeks and his force, conducted public executions of three alleged criminals. Tariq became the undisputed leader of the Darra Taliban. He started supplying weapons and ammunition to Baitullah Mehsud. Tariq’s strongholds were Toor Chappar and Bosti Khel. About 200 Uzbeks joined his organisation. The Taliban had control over the Peshawar-Kohat road, including the main bazaar. Criminals were executed publicly. In January 2008, the Taliban hijacked a military ammunition convoy, along with some soldiers. They kidnapped a Polish engineer in September 2008 and beheaded him when their demand for release of certain Taliban members was not met.

On January 25, 2008 the army initiated an operation in the area. By February, the Kohat tunnel and Darra Bazaar were secured. Most of the Taliban fled to Khyber and Orakzai Agency, including Tariq Afridi. The tribals, fed up of Taliban atrocities, decided to convene a jirga for the elimination of the Taliban from the area. On March 2, 2008, a suicide bomber attacked the peace jirga of the tribes and killed 47 tribesmen.

In August 2008, the Taliban re-emerged and captured the Kohat tunnel. A major operation was launched by the army in September 2008, which continued until December 2008. The Taliban had blasted and damaged the Kohat tunnel. Tariq Afridi fled to the Ghiljo area of Orakzai Agency. The tribesmen of the Amin Afridi clan extended their support to the security forces. Members of the Tariq Afridi group were identified and apprehended. Tariq Afridi is now believed to be in central Kurram Agency and is suspected to be responsible for the massive November 5 suicide attack on a mosque in Akhorwal area to punish the followers of Momin Afridi for cooperating with security forces. More than 70 men, praying in the mosque, died in this gruesome, inhuman act.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>US says Afghan handover in 2014 realistic</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74112/us-says-afghan-handover-in-2014-realistic</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74112/us-says-afghan-handover-in-2014-realistic#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 07:57:14 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74112</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[US officials say Karzai's plans to assume responsibility for his country's security by 2014 is a realistic goal.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plans to assume responsibility for his country's security by 2014 is a realistic goal and one that Nato should endorse at a summit in Lisbon, US officials said on Monday.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US military officer, both acknowledged a tough fight ahead but added they thought Karzai's target was attainable.

"One of the agenda items of the Lisbon summit is to embrace President Karzai's goal of completing the transfer of security responsibility to Afghanistan by 2014," Gates told reporters during a visit to Australia.

Asked whether he supported its inclusion at the summit and believed it was plausible, Gates said, "speaking realistically, I would say yes to both questions."

Mullen acknowledged "we're clearly not there" yet.

"But as a target at this point that makes sense," Mullen told reporters during a visit to Australia.

The November 19-20 summit in Lisbon will bring the war into focus following the most violent year in the nine-year-old conflict. Nato commanders are calling for patience, saying that despite record casualties, real progress is being made in the battle against the Taliban.

President Barack Obama aims to start bringing US troops home next July, the beginning of a transition in which Afghans are intended to increasingly take the lead in security as foreign forces thin out.

Opponents of Obama's July deadline say it has emboldened the Taliban, sending a signal that militants need only to wait until the departure of foreign forces before stepping up activities.

"People say 'you picked July 2011 and that lets the Taliban know that there's an end date.' Well, I hope the Taliban think that's an end date because it's not," Gates said.

"And they're going to be very surprised come August, September, October and November, when most American forces are still there and still coming after them."]]>
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			<title>US commander in Afghanistan draws up transition timetable</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74091/us-commander-in-afghanistan-draws-up-transition-timetable</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/74091/us-commander-in-afghanistan-draws-up-transition-timetable#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 06:17:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=74091</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[US General David Petraeus drafts timetable for handing over of control of Afghan provinces to local security forces.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The US commander in Afghanistan has drafted a timetable for the handing over of control of its provinces to local security forces, The Times newspaper reported Monday.

US General David Petraeus's colour-coded map, which will be presented to Nato leaders at a summit in Lisbon on November 19, contains a small number of "green" areas which are designated for handover within six months.

The plan indicates that the western province of Herat is due for an early handover, while Nato forces are expected to remain in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand for at least two more years.

Alliance diplomatic sources told the newspaper that Petraeus did not want the map to be published, fearing certain provinces and districts would become "bull's-eye" targets for the Taliban.

The sources added that Petraeus will use his Lisbon platform to reaffirm that the changeover will be a gradual process of NATO withdrawal and strengthening of Afghan forces.

The summit is expected to give full support to the proposals which support US President Barack Obama's promise that he will begin pulling US troops out of Afghanistan from July next year.

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces, with violence mainly concentrated in nine to the south and east of the country.

Of over 300 districts within the provinces, it is hoped that around two-thirds could be handed over without serious risk.]]>
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			<title>14 killed in North Waziristan drone strike</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73758/four-killed-in-north-waziristan-drone-strike</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73758/four-killed-in-north-waziristan-drone-strike#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 05:09:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Two drone strikes target militant compounds in Miranshah and Dattakhel.]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least fourteen people have been killed in a suspected US drone strike near Miranshah, North Waziristan.

The missile strike targeted a building allegedly housing militants in the area.
A security official said two missiles were fired at a vehicle soon  after it left a militant compound near Miranshah. He said that the attack blew up the vehicle and also damaged the  compound they had been inside.
Another official said the pilotless aircraft fired four missiles in  two separate raids on the car in Dandey Saidgai village, confirming the deaths  of eight militants.
Another six miltants were killed by a second drone strike in  Dattakhel.
The ongoing US drone campaign has stepped up the number of attacks in Fata, and Nato helicopters from Afghanistan have pursued militants into Pakistani territory.

According to an earlier report in The Express Tribune, more than 150 people have been killed in such strikes since September, heightening tensions with Islamabad over US criticism of Pakistan’s failure so far to launch a ground offensive in North Waziristan. Most recently US President Barack Obama on an official visit to India said Pakistan was not acting quickly enough to deal with militancy within its borders.

The United States does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the pilotless aircraft in the region.]]>
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			<title>Delaying tactics in N Waziristan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73770/delaying-tactics-in-n-waziristan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73770/delaying-tactics-in-n-waziristan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 05:00:35 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Giving Kayani the benefit of the doubt, one could say he is waiting till he can marshal his full resources.]]>
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				<![CDATA[As Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani rebuffs yet another demand by Isaf forces to go after militants in North Waziristan, saying Pakistan would go into the dangerous terrain when its “national priorities” will allow it the opportunity to do so, what is perhaps most evident is that the country, is at most, buying time before it is forced to wage war in the agency.

To his credit, the general has managed to hold off the West on its demand for operations in North Waziristan for quite some time now, first offering them Swat and Bajaur and then South Waziristan, Orakzai and other agencies. The floods came and provided yet another distraction, enabling the army to avoid operations in an area it appears not to be comfortable in, and seems unwilling to get involved. From a western perspective, giving General Kayani the benefit of the doubt, one could say he is waiting till he can marshal his full resources and, without distraction, march into the forbidden territory to eliminate the scourge of terrorism once and for all. Given of course, that North Waziristan is the final solution. As US and Nato forces in Afghanistan fail to achieve their objectives after years of fighting and as the deadline for withdrawal edges closer with no final solution in sight, North Waziristan, the ‘epicentre of al Qaeda’,  becomes the be all and end all, assuming proportions inching towards the mythical, in winning the war on terror.

Then there is talk of a deal with Jalaluddin Haqqani, according to which his men will not carry out attacks in the country if Pakistan lets them be. But given the extent of pressure the Obama administration has been exerting on the Pakistan Army for months now, one must seriously consider what the end of such a deal may augur for Pakistan, which already has what can be seen as an urban terror infrastructure. Bring together arguments that whatever may happen to the US in Afghanistan and whatever the course of their future in the region may be, Pakistan is geographically bound being Afghanistan’s physical neighbour.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Militants execute three 'US collaborators'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73935/militants-execute-three-us-collaborators</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73935/militants-execute-three-us-collaborators#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 04:19:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=73935</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Executions come amid a surge of US drone attacks killing nine militants.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Militants publicly executed three tribesmen in the North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday after accusing them of spying for the United States, officials said.

The men, blindfolded with hands tied behind their backs, were lined up near a gas station in the lawless tribal area near the Afghan border, local official Nasir Khan said.

“A man wearing a black mask shot them dead one by one," he said – adding that the militants, before killing the trio, asked local people to “come and witness the fate of US spies”.

He said that about 100 people watched the executions at an open area on a road near Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan and a bastion of Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants.

The alleged spies were local tribesmen aged 25, 28 and 32, Khan said. The militants left in two cars after the killings.

A local intelligence official also confirmed the executions, which came amid a surge in US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belt.

Militants frequently kidnap and kill tribesmen in the troubled region, accusing them of spying for the government or US forces in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters have been waging a vicious insurgency for nine years.

Meanwhile, US drone strikes targeted militant vehicles near Miramshah, killing nine fighters, security officials said.

Two missiles were fired at a vehicle soon after it left a militant compound near Miranshah, a security official said.

“The attack blew up the vehicle and also damaged the compound. Five militants were killed, they had been inside the vehicle, which was destroyed in the attack," the official said from Miramshah.

Another official, in Peshawar, said the pilotless aircraft fired four missiles in two separate raids on the car in Dandey Saidgai village, confirming the deaths of five militants.

A drone then fired two missiles at a car in Moizer town, 40 kilometres west of Miramshah, officials said. “Four militants were killed as the attack blew up their car in a fireball,” an official said.

Two other security officials confirmed the attack and the casualties.

“The attacks killed five militants," the official in Peshawar said, adding that the drones fired two missiles each on the vehicle and the militant compound.

It was not immediately clear if the drones were chasing any high value target, officials said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Obama pushes India  to talk to Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73675/pakistan-not-acting-quickly-enough-to-end-militancy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73675/pakistan-not-acting-quickly-enough-to-end-militancy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 03:50:33 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[agencies]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Obama calls on India to bolster peace efforts with Pakistan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[US President Barack Obama called on India on Sunday to bolster peace efforts with Pakistan that have floundered since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, relations seen as crucial to his troubled efforts to win the war in Afghanistan.

On the second day of his official visit to India, Obama faces a diplomatic tightrope in fostering ties with the growing global power, while at the same time helping Pakistan with billions of dollars in aid and promoting wider peace in Afghanistan.

Obama’s first leg of a 10-day Asian tour has been hailed as moving the United States closer to India as Washington tries to revive a weak economy and gather support to pressure China on its currency. But on Sunday, India’s worries about Pakistan dominated.

Peppered by questions from students at a college in India’s financial hub, Obama toed a cautious line between the two nuclear-armed foes, saying both were needed to help stabilise Afghanistan where thousands of US troops battle militants.

“My hope is that over time, trust develops between the two countries, that dialogue begins, perhaps on less controversial issues, building up to more controversial issues,” Obama told students under a hot midday sun.

Obama said the biggest stakeholder in a ‘stable and prosperous’ Pakistan is India. “If Pakistan is unstable, that’s bad for India. If it’s good and prosperous, that’s good, because India is on the move. (You) Don’t want the distraction of security in your region.”

However, the US president said Washington would not mediate in the dialogue between India and Pakistan and it was up to the two neighbours to mend fences. “India and Pakistan can prosper and live side by side. This can happen and this should be the ultimate goal. The US can be a partner but cannot impose this process. India and Pakistan have to arrive at an understanding,” said Obama.

Islamabad wants the Obama administration to play its role for the resolution of decades-old dispute with New Delhi.

Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit was quoted by news agency Press Trust of India as saying the US ought to play an “effective role for an amicable solution of the longstanding issue of Kashmir” given close India-US ties.

President Obama also spoke about India’s role in Afghanistan. “India’s investment in development in Afghanistan is appreciated,” he added. “Pakistan has to be a partner in this process, in fact all countries in the region are going to need to be partners in this process. “The United States welcomes that, we don’t think we can do this alone.”

India has given $1.3 billion in aid to Afghanistan, a policy that unnerves Pakistan which sees its northern neighbour as its own backyard of influence.

Obama said Pakistan was not acting quickly enough to deal with militancy within its borders, a view long expressed by many Indian officials who say Islamabad is hoodwinking Washington by taking aid while also backing militants in Afghanistan.

“There are more Pakistanis who’ve been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan than probably anywhere else,” Obama said.

Later in the afternoon, Obama landed in New Delhi and greeted the waiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a hug. Later in the evening the two leaders had a one-on-one meeting for about 25 minutes before the private dinner hosted by Prime Minister Singh for the visiting leader and his wife Michelle at his 7, Race Course Road residence.

The two leaders are believed to have taken an overview of the bilateral relations, which have grown substantially over the last few years. Singh and Obama will hold formal wide-ranging talks on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>The Afghanistan endgame</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73748/the-afghanistan-endgame</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73748/the-afghanistan-endgame#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 10 03:42:41 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[Naveed Hussain]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Islamabad is in a better position to mediate between Kabul, the Haqqani network and the Quetta Shura.]]>
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				<![CDATA[As the United States and its allies are preparing for the endgame in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has secretly stepped up efforts for reconciliation with the reconcilable Taliban — a political neologism coined by the Obama administration to de-emphasise the negative connotations of talks with those whom it calls terrorists.

In Afghanistan, a face-saving exit isn't possible unless President Karzai wins over at least some of the Taliban to give a semblance that his administration represents the ethnic mix of the war-torn country.

Surprisingly, Pakistan is not in the loop on this secretive peace plan, much to the chagrin of the top leadership in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. And Prime Minister Gilani has said it loud and clear that any political settlement in Afghanistan without his country's input will be doomed. True. The Karzai administration needs the support of the Pashtun, who make over 55 per cent of Afghanistan's population. And the Taliban are overwhelmingly Pashtun.

Islamabad is in a better position to mediate between Kabul, the Haqqani network and the Quetta Shura. But for the US, the Haqqani network, led by Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, are ‘irreconcilable’ Taliban. One because they are sheltering al-Qaeda, and two because they are fuelling the Afghan insurgency from their basis in the North Waziristan tribal region. Washington wants to defeat the Haqqanis, both militarily and politically. Militarily, it has not only stepped up drone attacks in North Waziristan but is also mounting pressure on Pakistan to go after the Haqqanis.

And politically, it has started efforts to isolate the Zardan tribe, to which the Haqqanis belong and from which they draw most of their foot soldiers to keep the insurgency going. Proof: Last month, President Karzai secretly met Maulvi Abdul Kabir, a Zardan tribe elder who served as governor of the Afghan province of Nangarhar and deputy prime minister during the Taliban regime. Washington and Kabul believe if they manage to split the Zardan tribe, it will weaken the Haqqanis and ultimately the Afghan insurgency in eastern provinces. Maulvi Kabir is believed to be running one of the several Taliban councils in Peshawar but he's a mid-level leader, not a powerhouse. Will talks with the fringe Taliban help Karzai's peace plan? I doubt. Without the Haqqanis and the Quetta Shura, or the senior Taliban on board, I believe the peace plan isn't going anywhere.

Turning to Pakistan's gambit, Islamabad wants to see a government in Kabul which not only protects its interests but at the same time denies India a say in the country's affairs. Reason: Pakistan doesn't want to be squeezed between two hostile neighbours. But unlike the past, Islamabad isn't putting all its eggs in one basket. Apart from its ostensible allies, the Pashtuns, Pakistan is also reaching out, or at least trying to reach out, to other ethnic minorities in Afghanistan, among them Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras, as was recently revealed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. But it is the Haqqani network that it is mainly relying on. Moving on, what are India's concerns? New Delhi has accepted the Taliban reintegration plan of President Karzai but with reservations.

It feels that in an Afghanistan, with the Taliban at the helm, its interests will not be protected. Traditionally, India has been close to the Northern Alliance, a conglomerate of ethnic warlords other than the Pashtuns, which it supported throughout the Afghan civil war following the withdrawal of the Soviet troops. But President Karzai, and even the international community, knows over 55 per cent Pashtuns can't be ignored in any future political settlement in Afghanistan.

Finally, what does the US have on its mind? Only one thing: an honourable exit The Obama administration wants to see American interests protected in Afghanistan after the troops pullout, which it believes, at least the Haqqanis cannot. But at the same time it's cognizant of Pakistan's concerns, which it wants to address without ‘rewarding’ the Haqqanis.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Pak-US dialogue: Report to be placed before parliament</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73384/pak-us-dialogue-report-to-be-placed-before-parliament</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73384/pak-us-dialogue-report-to-be-placed-before-parliament#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 07 Nov 10 06:21:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rauf.klasra]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=73384</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Report informs that deadlock over the Coalition Support Fund has been broken and Obama plans a visit to Pakistan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A comprehensive report on the recently concluded Pakistan-American strategic dialogue will be presented to parliament as the government wants to bring more transparency to relations between the two countries. The report informs that the deadlock over the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) has been broken and that President Barck Obama plans to visit Pakistan in 2011.

A review of the report also discloses that the Obama administration has agreed to release $2 billion against CSF, which was earlier held up due to suspicion that Pakistan was fudging figures. The US has also agreed to pump in an extra $2 billion into Pakistan for strengthening the country’s law enforcement apparatus, the report says.

The first installment of $750 million under the CSF will now be released to Pakistan by the end of November. The money was stuck up because the US accused Pakistan of double billing and wanted to set up an audit system in the country to verify payments made on its behalf.

It has also been agreed between the two sides that President Obama would invite either President Zardari or Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to visit Washington before he visits Islamabad on his first-ever visit in 2011. Details about the strategic dialogue were shared with the cabinet on October 27 in a meeting at Lahore with Prime Minister Gilani. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gave the briefing, officials said.

The cabinet then decided that the report should be tabled before parliament with the purpose of taking the elected representatives of the people into confidence, so as they should know what sort of dialogue was taking place between the two countries. When contacted, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said some “auditing issues” were involved in the release of the CSF funds. But, Basit added, this was being dealt with by the Pakistan Army directly with the Americans, so he “would not be able to make any comprehensive comment.”

In the strategic dialogue, discussions also took place on the establishment of an enterprise fund for promoting private sector investment in the energy sector. “The US expressed strong support for democracy in Pakistan and expected Pakistan to carry out reforms in the taxation and energy sectors to revive the country’s economy”, the cabinet was informed by the foreign minister.

The cabinet also decided that the foreign minister shall meet columnists, anchorpersons and senior media representatives to bring home to them the salient features of the dialogue with regards the policy of the democratic government of Pakistan and seek their support for the national cause.

It was further decided that the minister for finance, foreign affairs and economic affairs shall sit together to arrive at a clear direction to be given to the media for public consumption on the PDF meeting being held in mid November 2010.

It may be recalled that the CSF was established by the US in 2001 to support 27 nations, including Pakistan, for some of the costs they incur in the fight against extremist violence.

Since 2001, the US has reimbursed Pakistan $7.4 billion. In total since 2001, the United States has provided more than $11 billion to Pakistan in security assistance and CSF reimbursements.

During the last three years, specific security assistance provided includes 14 F-16 fighter aircraft, 10 Mi-17 and two Bell 412EP helicopters, 5 fast patrol boats, 115 Howitzer self-propelled field artillery cannons, more than 450 vehicles for the Frontier Corps, hundreds of night vision goggles, day/night telescopes, radios, and thousands of protective vests and first-aid items for Pakistan’s security forces.

The US has also provided training for more than 370 Pakistani military officers in a wide range of leadership and development programmes covering topics such as counterterrorism, intelligence, logistics, medical, flight safety, and military law.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Importance of operations in Orakzai</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73404/importance-of-operations-in-orakzai</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73404/importance-of-operations-in-orakzai#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Nov 10 18:49:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.munir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=73404</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[After its formation, the TTP started terrorising the tribals in Orakzai, those who opposed were brutally killed.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Orakzai is the only tribal agency not bordering Afghanistan. It got the status of tribal agency in 1973. Prior to that it was under the administrative control of the DC Kohat as part of the Frontier Region. The agency’s population is about 300,000, out of which about 50,000 are Shias. There are about 64 Sikh and 18 Hindu families and they have been living in Orakzai for decades. The area witnessed Shia-Sunni riots, even during British rule, but never communal conflict. In 1936, the British demarcated the Shia-Sunni areas by relocating the Shia community to the south of the Mastura River.

In 1998, a Mamuzai tribal, raised a Taliban force. In the aftermath of 9/11, the Taliban force dispersed and there were no more extremist activities in the agency. Foreign militants have been taking refuge in Upper Orakzai since 2004. After formation of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TPP) in 2007, the Taliban force was organised in Orakzai Agency, and it started terrorising the tribals. Prominent maliks were kidnapped and released on payment of ransom. Those who opposed were brutally killed. The Orakzais never wanted their area to be talibanised. In 2008, the Ali Khel and Feroz Khel tribes, raised lashkars, to fight the Taliban. These lashkars demolished houses of those who provided shelter to foreign militants. They were also fined heavily. Feroz Khels successfully cleared their area of the Taliban.

The Taliban reacted to these developments, as they wanted a base in the agency. Hakeemullah Mehsud took command of the force. A suicide bomber exploded a vehicle in a gathering of the Ali Khel lashkar, killing 114 and injuring 280 tribesmen. A vehicle laden with explosives was blown up in a market in Feroz Khel, reducing the whole market to ashes. Target killings of Ali Khel, Feroz Khel and Sunni Sturi Khel tribals started. Prominent tribal elders were kidnapped, tortured and killed. Many disappeared. Payment of jiziya was imposed on the Sikh community. They had no option but to leave the agency and take refuge in Panja Sahib and other places. These acts of violence forced the tribals to accept the rule of the Taliban in the agency.

Operation Rah-e-Nijat was launched in June 2009 to secure South Waziristan. The terrorists needed an area under their control, where they could establish training camps and fulfil their logistics requirements. Orakzai was the ideal choice, as the terrain of Upper Orakzai is difficult and the area facilitates back and forth movements from Tirah, Darra Adam Khel, North Waziristan and Kurram.

In March 2010, a formal operation was launched in the agency. More than 40,000 IDPs had to shift to Hangu and Kohat districts. More than 90 per cent of the agency has now been secured. The process of rehabilitation of IDPs has started. However, in the last one week, the security forces have suffered a number of casualties, including the death of a colonel and the Mamuzai area of Upper Orakzai is yet to be secured. The successful completion of the operation in Orakzai is likely to dilute the capabilities of terrorists in Tirah, Kurram Agency and North Waziristan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Praying for survival</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73416/praying-for-survival</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73416/praying-for-survival#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Nov 10 17:56:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=73416</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[There is no longer any guarantee that citizens will leave the mosque safe and sound or return home to their families.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The faithful who gather every Friday at mosques around the country now have something they really need to pray for: their own survival and that of the loved ones who accompany them. There is no longer any guarantee that they will leave the mosque safe and sound or return home to their families. The suicide attack at a mosque in Darra Adam Khel, where some 70 people died and others lie wounded in hospital, is not the only one to take place. On the same day, a grenade attack at a Peshawar mosque killed five, and there have been other acts of terrorism directed against worshippers, most of them taking place on Friday when the largest numbers are present.

What is the rationale behind these actions? They are carried out by men who claim they intend to enforce Islamic rule in the land. Surely, they cannot believe killing men as they pray is an act that falls in line with their claims of religious devotion; it can also only reduce sympathy for their cause in the eyes of ordinary people. No one condones blasts at mosques. But at the same time, we wonder why we do not hear a more vociferous condemnation from our religious leaders, who have spoken only in murmurs against the terrorist scourge which has ,over the past few years, killed thousands.

The suggestion that the Darra Adam Khel blast may have been the result of a rivalry between local groups needs to be examined. But this cannot explain other attacks that have taken place. We can only assume the bombers who plot and plan these ‘missions’ aim to create fear across society. This is what terrorism is all about. Perhaps their capacity to strike has diminished as a result of the campaign against them and they have honed in on mosques as easier targets, where they are certain to be people present and where a blast will create the kind of panic that is their main purpose.

In all of this, one must not lose sight of the fact – chilling as it may be – that terrorists have a tendency to exploit weaknesses and this is precisely what they have done this time as well. For instance, one reason for the choice of this location for the attack, according to several reports, was that the mosque was close to the house of a local who had in the past stood up to the Taliban. A spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has been quoted as denying the attack and instead blaming Blackwater/Xe which borders on the sublimely ridiculous. Not altogether unsurprisingly, such conspiracy theories are often rattled off by so-called ‘defence analysts’ and ‘experts’ in various sections of the media and it doesn’t take much to figure out just whose language they are speaking.

What we need is concerted action in all areas where the Taliban are operating — and by this one is suggesting North Waziristan, which, more or less, remains a safe haven for certain elements of the Afghan Taliban, and in particular the Haqqani network. The Pakistan government and the military are reluctant to go into the agency because they say that it would open up another front and could have massive repercussions in the rest of the country. However, the latter is already a reality with suicide attacks still happening at a time and location of the terrorists’ choosing. This, of course, notwithstanding tall claims made by all and sundry, that the war against the Taliban is being won — a most subjective and contestable assertion if ever there was one. Those who think that this is not an option for now, one has to say, seem to be wedded to the flawed concept of ‘strategic depth’ whose aim is to install a Pakistan-friendly government in Kabul. The flaw lies in the choice of partners — instead of the obscurantist and militant Taliban, why not choose a set of players who have the same ideals and values as most political parties in Pakistan. Wouldn’t that be the most obvious and natural course to follow?

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>14 militants killed in Lower Orakzai</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73350/14-militants-killed-in-lower-orakzai</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/73350/14-militants-killed-in-lower-orakzai#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Nov 10 11:53:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=73350</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gunship helicopters pound militant hideouts in the Handara area.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Fourteen militants were killed when gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in the Handara area of Lower Orakzai Agency

Ten militants have been injured while two militant hideouts have also  been destroyed.

Security forces have been carrying out operations against militants in the Orakzai Agency although the military had earlier announced that the official operation in Orakzai was over and the area had been cleared of militants. However, recent attacks and activities by militants in the region have led to renewed operations by security forces.]]>
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			<title>Terror in Darra Adamkhel</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72969/terror-in-darra-adamkhel</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72969/terror-in-darra-adamkhel#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 10 20:23:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=72969</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[These terrorists are from amongst us and it is up to us to take a stand against their vile, murderous hatred.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The insanity of the Taliban was on display yet again in the bomb attack on the mosque in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. An estimated 50 people who were gathered for Friday prayers at the mosque were brutally murdered in an attack that was as savage as it was pointless. What exactly do the Taliban hope to achieve through their vicious attacks on innocent civilians? What cause justifies such wanton murder? A similar attack occurred in Peshawar last month, at a mosque during Friday prayers. Five people were killed then. The ruthlessness of the terrorists has been getting more effective even as the government’s response seems to remain as feeble as ever. It has become customary to see police officers assigned to guard mosques during Friday prayers, in some parts of the country, to prevent this sort of event. While we understand that the police force cannot be everywhere, it is relevant to ask whether this mosque had been assigned protection that other areas have been given.

We do not mean to denigrate the service of the police force of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, members of which have been heroic and performed well beyond the call of duty on many an occasion. But they are clearly ill-equipped and out-gunned by a terrorist force that appears to be far better funded and has the perennial advantage of surprise attacks. Far too much attention and funding for counter-terrorism seems to go to the military and not nearly enough towards buttressing law enforcement capabilities. Ultimately, however, this menace will be rid from our society when ordinary Pakistanis stop living in denial. These terrorists are from amongst us and it is up to us to take a stand against their vile, murderous hatred. Otherwise, we will continue to bleed, as our brethren in Darra Adamkhel did today.

Published in The Express Tribune November 6th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Security forces kill 8 militants in Orakzai</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72839/security-forces-kill-8-militants-in-orakzai-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72839/security-forces-kill-8-militants-in-orakzai-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 10 06:24:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=72839</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Eight militants killed, 6 injured when gunship helicopters targeted militant hideouts in Upper Orakzai Agency]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Eight militants were killed and six wounded when gunship helicopters  targeted militant hideouts in Upper Orakzai Agency.
Security forces are busy in an operation against militants in  different areas of Upper Orakzai Agency.
Two hideouts of the militants were also destroyed in the  operation.
Security forces have been carrying out operations against militants in the Orakzai Agency although the military had earlier announced that the official operation in Orakzai was over and the area had been cleared of militants. However, recent attacks and activities by militants in the region have led to renewed operations by security forces.]]>
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			<title>US imposes sanctions on LeT and JeM</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72515/us-imposes-sanctions-on-let-and-jem</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72515/us-imposes-sanctions-on-let-and-jem#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 10 16:08:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=72515</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[US targets financial and support network of Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).]]>
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				<![CDATA[The United States imposed sanctions on two terrorist organizations on Thursday.

The Treasury Department said it targeted the financial and support networks of Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

It also took action against LeT commander Azam Cheema, saying he had helped train operatives for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and was the ‘mastermind’ behind the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings carried out by LeT.

The targets also included leaders of LeT and JeM, as well as al Rehmat Trust, an ‘operational front’ for JeM, the department said in a statement.

LeT already was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001, the department noted.

‘Today's action, including the designation of Azam Cheema, one of LeT's leading commanders who was involved in the 2008 and 2006 Mumbai attacks, is an important step in incapacitating the operational and financial networks of these deadly organizations,’ Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.

The sanctions ban all transactions with US citizens and companies, and freezes any of the targets' assets under US jurisdiction.]]>
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			<title>Muslims should avenge Aafia Siddiqui: Zawahiri</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72509/muslims-should-avenge-aafia-siddiqui-zawahiri</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72509/muslims-should-avenge-aafia-siddiqui-zawahiri#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 10 15:18:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Zawahiri made the appeal in an audio message entitled &quot;Who Will Avenge the Scientist Aafia Siddiqui.&quot;]]>
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				<![CDATA[Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims on Thursday to avenge the sentencing of Aafia Siddiqui, who was jailed for 86 years by a US court, the SITE monitoring service said.

Zawahiri made the appeal in an audio message entitled "Who Will Avenge the Scientist Aafia Siddiqui," which was released on militant forums, the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said.

He promised "to attack ... (Americans) as long as they attack" Muslims and said "the ummah will not stop pursuing you."

Zawahiri also told Pakistanis their "government humiliated them by letting the Americans and Crusaders occupy the country."

He called for them to "take the only available path, that of jihad ... which will liberate Aafia Siddiqui."

On September 23, a New York court jailed Siddiqui for the attempted murder of US servicemen in Afghanistan, in a high-profile case sparking outrage in Pakistan.

Siddiqui, a mother of three, was found guilty of grabbing a rifle at a police station in the Afghan town of Ghazni where she was being interrogated in July 2008 and of trying to gun down a group of US servicemen and FBI agents.

Prosecutors said she opened fire, shouting "death to America!"

She did not hit anyone and was herself shot in the stomach before being subdued.

Siddiqui, a neuroscientist who trained at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, repeatedly pleaded in court for Muslims to stay calm.

"Forgive everybody in my case, please ... And also forgive Judge Berman," she said.

Zawahiri's last message was in July, when he denounced France's move to ban women from wearing the Islamic face veil in public.]]>
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			<title>Iran hails US decision to label Jundullah 'terrorist' group</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72450/iran-hails-us-decision-to-label-jundullah-terrorist-group</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72450/iran-hails-us-decision-to-label-jundullah-terrorist-group#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 10 13:20:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=72450</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Iran welcomed the US decision to label Jundallah a terrorist group saying it was a move in the &quot;right direction.&quot;]]>
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				<![CDATA[Iran welcomed on Thursday a US decision to label the Sunni rebel group Jundullah a "terrorist" group, saying it was a move in the "right direction."

"Fighting terrorism is a general responsibility of all nations and the Islamic Republic of Iran in this regard considers placing (Abolmalek) Rigi's terrorist group on the US national list of terror organisations as a move in the right direction," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

But he reiterated Iranian accusations that Washington supports the group.

"Iran will evaluate in practice America's change of policy regarding its support of terror groups like Jundallah, Tondar and PJAK," he added, according to Fars new agency.

The United States on Wednesday officially designated Jundallah a foreign terrorist organization, blaming it for a series of attacks in Iran.

It has already placed the outlawed Kurdish group PJAK on its list of terror groups.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan to walk tightrope on Afghan peace: Analysts</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72329/pakistan-to-walk-tightrope-on-afghan-peace-analysts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72329/pakistan-to-walk-tightrope-on-afghan-peace-analysts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 10 06:36:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=72329</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Improving relations with Afghanistan and supporting Taliban talks are a major challenge for Pakistan, analysts say.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan will need to walk a tightrope to secure its interests in US-backed reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan, at risk of being sidelined by the Taliban and the Kabul government, analysts say.

British and US newspapers have been awash with reports on the nature of peace efforts needed to end the nine-year Taliban insurgency and allow the 150,000 US-led Nato contingent in Afghanistan to withdraw. The Taliban have denied any talks are taking place, and Afghan and Pakistani experts on insurgent groups dismiss such reports as as Western propaganda.

But Pakistan is determined to ensure that an allied government is in power in Kabul once the United States and its allies have withdrawn their troops from from Afghanistan. Washington and Kabul agree there can be no peace in Afghanistan without cooperation from Pakistan, which has repeatedly offered to facilitate reconciliation efforts.

For 10 years, Islamabad has been America's ally in the war, despite widespread public opposition and militant bomb attacks across the nuclear-armed country that have killed more than 3,740 people in three years.

But Pakistan is not trusted fully by either the Afghan and US governments, which accuse its powerful military of continuing to foster the Afghan Taliban it spawned during the 1980s resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan also share a large ethnic Pashtun population, which traditionally does not recognise the border drawn between the two countries in the British colonial era and from whom the bulk of the Taliban are drawn.

"We are in contact with all ethnic groups, not just Pashtuns, in Afghanistan," said one Pakistani official on condition of anonymity. Yet Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said late last month that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had yet to brief the government on his plans. "It is not necessary that we're in the loop at every stage or kept informed of all developments or meetings," said the Pakistani official.

Pakistan considers Afghanistan a strategic asset, where a friendly government in Kabul can help offset the increasing power flexed by arch rival India. Hence its diplomatic recognition of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime. Afghan insurgents with rear bases in Pakistan's tribal belt, which are subject to an escalating US drone war, criss-cross the porous border with ease.

The Afghan government's High Council for Peace has included Pakistan, along with Iran and Saudi Arabia in the list of Muslim countries it has asked for assistance, according to its spokesman Mualavi Qeyamudin Kashaf. But Rahimullah Yusufzai, one of Pakistan's foremost experts on militant groups, warns that Islamabad needs to confront its limitations. "We should be very careful. It is possible that we won't get anything at the end of the day.

"Some Taliban commanders may not agree to a Pakistani role because they still believe Islamabad betrayed them by siding with the Americans after 9/11."

Afghan analyst and former Taliban foreign ministry official, Waheed Mujda, agreed that Pakistan's influence is in decline. "The Taliban are now almost an independent Islamic movement, supported by many Islamic groups in the world. Pakistan knows that it does not have the same level of influence over the Taliban that they once enjoyed," he told AFP.

Pakistan also has to navigate the pressures from the United States. Keen to end the war and weaken the Taliban as much as possible, the US drone campaign has stepped up attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt and Nato helicopters from Afghanistan have pursued militants into Pakistani territory. Pakistan will have to deal with whomever fills the power vacuum left by departing American troops.

"Pakistan cannot walk away from this neighbourhood," said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani analyst and author on the tribal belt. "America can think of an end game when they think of a draw down, but being neighbours, our priority should be to think of improving relationship with Afghanistan. For Pakistan, it will be a major challenge."

Retired lieutenant general Talat Masood said he believes, for example, that Pakistan has no choice but protect itself from US pressure for an offensive in North Waziristan -- a bastion of the Afghan Taliban and its allied Haqqani network. "The US wants to convince the Taliban that dialogue is perhaps the only solution... they (America) know our limitations (in terms of an offensive)."]]>
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			<title>US, Pakistan continue to disagree</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72220/us-pakistan-continue-to-disagree</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/72220/us-pakistan-continue-to-disagree#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 10 05:05:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Patraeus renews Washington's demand for a full scale military offensive against Haqqani netwrork.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Top US and Pakistani military leadership stuck to their opposing stances on how to handle the Haqqani network in North Waziristan, making no headway in bringing both sides to a common ground.

Isaf chief in Afghanistan Gen David Patraeus in a meeting with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani here on Wednesday renewed Washington’s demand for a full scale military offensive against the al Qaeda inspired Haqqani network, said military and diplomatic sources.

Patraeus told Gen Kayani that an operation against militants in North Waziristan is vital for achieving success against insurgents fighting Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Led by an aging Jalaludin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group has strong presence in eastern Afghanistan. It also has foot soldiers in several parts of the country to fight US-led Nato troops. Described as “as an epicentre of al Qaeda,” the Obama administration has been pressing Pakistan for months to eliminate the Haqqani network from its tribal belt.

A senior Pakistan military official said Gen Kayani ruled out going after the group in North Waziristan at this stage. “At some stage, we will have to carryout targeted and limited operation in the North Waziristan but there are no immediate plans,” said the official, who requested not to be named.

The two sides also have divergent views on the role of Haqqani network in any future political settlement in Afghanistan. Pakistan believes the group will certainly have a key role while the Americans think otherwise.

An Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) statement said very little about what transpired between Gen Kayani and Gen Patraeus. “The visiting dignitary remained with him for some time and discussed matters of professional interest,” said a short statement.

However, Foreign office spokesperson Abdul Basit tried to dispel the impression that Pakistan was under any US pressure to launch a military offensive in North Waziristan.  He insisted that Pakistan will take the decision by assessing its “national priorities.” “It will not take any US dictation,” the spokesperson said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Three US drone strikes kill 11</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71895/drone-strike-kills-four-in-miranshah</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71895/drone-strike-kills-four-in-miranshah#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 10 16:45:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Drone strikes target alleged militants in Khaiso Khel, Payi Khel and Qutub Khel.]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least 11 alleged militants were killed in three US drone missile strikes in the northwestern tribal belt on Wednesday, security officials said.

Three militants were killed when a US drone fired two missiles at a car in Khaiso Khel town 25 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, late Wednesday, three local security officials said.

Almost simultaneously another drone strike killed four militants in nearby Payi Khel town, they said, hours after a similar attack killed four militants in a vehicle in the Qutub Khel suburb of Miranshah.

One security official said the vehicle hit in the earlier attack had been loaded with arms and ammunition.

'It detonated in the attack and the vehicle caught fire, nobody can go near the vehicle,' he said. A nearby house was damaged in the strike, officials said.

The region was also pounded by three missile strikes in a single day in early September, with 15 militants killed, according to local officials.

A covert US drone campaign in Pakistan has stepped up strikes in the tribal belt, as intelligence claims emerged last month of a Mumbai-style terror plot to launch commando attacks on European cities.

Around 200 people have been killed in nearly 40 strikes since September 3.]]>
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			<title>US embassy denies NATO violated Pakistani airspace</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71943/us-embassy-denies-nato-violated-pakistani-airspace</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71943/us-embassy-denies-nato-violated-pakistani-airspace#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 10 15:36:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=71943</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The US Embassy says reports about Nato helicopters entering Pakistani territory on Tuesday were false.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The United States (US) Embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday said that news reports about Nato choppers violating Pakistani airspace a day earlier, were false.

“News reports on both television and print media are claiming that Nato aircraft "violated" Pakistan's airspace in the areas of Burqi and Kharlaci on Tuesday, November 2. This accusation is entirely false. No Nato aircraft violated Pakistani airspace in the areas of Burqi and Kharlaci as alleged in the reports.” A press release issued on Wednesday said.

According to earlier media reports, three Nato helicopters flew 600 meters inside Pakistani territory on Tuesday and hovered there for 20 minutes causing panic within the residents of the region.

“This information was confirmed with Pakistan's Air Defense Command. Coalition and US air operations in Afghanistan conducted along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region are closely coordinated with Pakistan's Air Force,” it said.

The press release added “we refer all questions concerning the integrity of Pakistani airspace to the Pakistan Air Force.”]]>
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			<title>NATO choppers violate Pakistani airspace again</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71328/nato-violates-pakistan-airspace-for-the-third-time</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71328/nato-violates-pakistan-airspace-for-the-third-time#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 10 05:00:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[manzoor.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=71328</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nato helicopters enter the areas of Borki, Kharlaki and Kurram and hover in Pakistan airspace for 20 minutes.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Three Nato helicopters flew inside Pakistani territory in Lower Kurram Agency on Tuesday, violating the country’s airspace for the third time.

According to officials, the incident occurred at around 5:00 pm. The Nato helicopters entered up to 600 metres inside Pakistan, including the areas of Borki, Kharlaki and Kurram and hovered in Pakistani airspace for 20 minutes. These areas lie close to the Afghan border.

Officials said that the flight of Nato helicopters spread panic among the locals, who remained inside their houses fearing bombing of the area. A military official told The Express Tribune that it was not an airspace violation, adding that the helicopters were dumping supplies at a check post close to the border --  which the authorities were aware of.

Earlier, on September 30, two Nato helicopters opened fire on a border post in the Kurram Agency, killing three paramilitary soldiers and injuring three others. Pakistan had closed the border with Afghanistan after the incident, halting Nato supplies going through the country. The supply line was restored more than a week after the US tendered an official apology for the cross-border attack on security forces.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Peace a distant future?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71629/peace-a-distant-future</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/71629/peace-a-distant-future#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 10 02:46:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[manzoor.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=71629</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Tribal areas left stuck in a rut of poverty and ignorance, ongoing insurgency not just ‘ideologically inspired’.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The ongoing insurgency in the tribal areas of the country is as much fueled by the lack of a developmental effort on government's part as it is ‘ideologically inspired’ as many say.

These areas were left stuck in a rut of poverty and ignorance. The tribal region has been left at odds with the larger cities due to minimal contact with other parts of the country in the last 60 years.

Upon taking a turn from Kohat Hangu main road to the Orakzai Agency, the landscape changes, as the road snakes through huge plains surrounded by green hills one can see large signboards declaring the area as game reserves.

After a half and hour drive from the Kaacha Pakka area one arrives at the Boah check-post, the gateway to the Orakzai Agency, where the landscape once again changes. A stark contrast to the barren expanses of the southern parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one can see greenery every where.

Fit for being developed into a tourist spot, this area has been left untouched by the government who has shown little interest in developing this region. What one sees now are endless fields of cannabis plantations that run along the road all the way up to Kalaya.

Cannabis is the main source of income for the people in this area and speaks volumes about the government’s intentions about bringing these areas at par with other parts of the country.

Traffic on the roads is scarce, while the graffiti along the roads points towards the menace of sectarianism in this area. Lower Orakzai Agency headquarters, Kalaya, is situated some two and half kilometers away from Kohat. Political administration offices can be seen in open fields here where soldiers are seen cleaning their weapons.

Since March 24 2010, a military operation is underway in this agency against Taliban insurgents and while security forces claim to have cleared at least 90 per cent of the area from insurgents, the lives of locals have changed little over the past six months.

Peace, many locals say, is a distant future still. Mohamamd Zareef, a tribal elder told The Express Tribune that all they want is peace after this long spell of militancy, which has not only rendered them homeless but also ruined their livelihoods.

“We lost four seasonal crops first because of the militancy in the area and now because of the operation,” Zareef said. Locals feel let down by the government who has failed to provide them with any health, education and transportation facilities.

“Sometimes we wonder if were all part of the same country,” Zareef said. “We have to take our sick to Peshawar, there are no health facilities here for us and sometimes we can’t make it on time,” he added.

Schools have been demolished by the insurgents who saw the curriculum of the schools as un-Islamic and education for girls a sin. According to tribesmen, there were two boy’s schools and two girl’s schools in the Ferozkhel area alone.

“The schools and health facilities including a Basic Health Unit (BHU) were destroyed following the launch the military operation in the area,” Zareef said.

The agency is being cleared in five phases, so far two phases have been completed, a security official told The Express Tribune. “It is up to the government to fix the situation here, these regions cannot be left ignored and at the mercy of ignorant insurgents,” the official said.

He said that these tribesmen need education, health, transportation and opportunities for employment to get their lives back on track. “We want our lives back, we want our children to go to school and to feel safe in their homes,” Zubaida Bibi said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2010.]]>
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			<title>Twelve militants killed in Orakzai operation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70963/twelve-militants-killed-in-orakzai-operation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70963/twelve-militants-killed-in-orakzai-operation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 13:23:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70963</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gunship shelling in different parts of lower Orakzai kills twelve, injures nine.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Security forces have killed twelve suspected militants and injured nine in shelling conducted by gunship helicopters in different areas of lower Orakzai Agency on Monday.

The gunship helicopters targeted three militant hideouts in Gowak, Haindara and the Atam Ankhel areas of lower Orakzai.

Earlier, the military had claimed that Orakzai Agency has been cleared of militants, with which the repatriation of the displaced people begun. However, there have been several attacks on security officials and people who have returned back on condition to maintain peace in their respective areas.]]>
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			<title>What's happening in the Afghan-Taliban talks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70951/whats-happening-in-the-afghan-taliban-talks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70951/whats-happening-in-the-afghan-taliban-talks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 12:02:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70951</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Afghan, US and Nato officials look for a possible negotiated exit to a war now entering its tenth year.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government has made preliminary contacts with Taliban insurgents as Afghan, US and Nato officials look for a possible negotiated exit to a war now entering its tenth year.

The Taliban themselves dismiss talks as propaganda, and there have been often conflicting media reports about the level of contact with insurgents and who exactly is involved.

Here are some details on what has been reported, what has been said in public and who the key players are.

What has been reported on talks

Much of the flurry over talks began in early October after the Washington Post reported, in part from Berlin, Karzai's government had held secret talks with Taliban representatives. The Post cited Afghan and Arab sources, who said the representatives spoke for the Quetta Shura Taliban leadership based in Pakistan and top leader Mohammad Omar.

Citing various sources, Reuters reported all main parties in the conflict were now considering ways to reach a deal. But the sources, including Nato, Afghan and non-American officials, said the "talks about talks" were preliminary and fragile.

The New York Times, citing mainly Afghan sources, reported "extensive face-to-face" talks between Karzai's inner circle and high-level Taliban commanders who left Pakistan with Nato's help. In one case, the Times reported, Taliban leaders boarded a Nato aircraft. Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been cut out of the talks, it said, but the hardline, al Qaeda-linked Haqqani faction was involved.

What officials say in public

Karzai says there have been preliminary contacts with the Taliban, although no direct negotiations. Afghan government officials acknowledge they have had on-again, off-again contacts with the Taliban at least over the past two years.

Senior US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke dismissed reports of secret talks as wildly overblown and has said there was no indication the Taliban leadership wanted to change course. "There is less here than meets the eye," he said. US General David Petraeus said Nato-led forces "facilitated" passage of a senior Taliban commander to Kabul. US officials say that meant logistics or "moving people to meeting locations". Petraeus said contacts were not at the level of negotiations.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it "a complex effort that is just beginning" and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington would do "whatever it takes".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament last week: "We are not remotely at the stage of laying down the terms of a political settlement."

Nato's top Afghanistan representative, Mark Sedwill, said contacts are "channels of communications" with significant Taliban but it was unclear whether they represented factions or wider groups. "It's not even yet talks about talks," he said.

The top U.N. diplomat in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, said he believed a resolution to the war was in sight but that the final stage of negotiations was the hardest. He said the United Nations would help, but that the process must be Afghan-led.

Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected media reports of secret negotiations, repeating a long-standing demand for all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan.

The key players

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long advocated talks with the Taliban. Karzai recently set up a peace council to broker talks and some say he may use it to soften preconditions for negotiations, which include insurgents renouncing al Qaeda and violence and respecting the constitution.

Afghanistan's largest insurgent force, the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by US-backed Afghan forces. They now have a stronghold in southern Afghanistan but are spreading their insurgency to other areas.

The most moderate of the main insurgent groups, Hezb-i-Islami, is run by veteran commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. US officials say he is looking to position himself for a role in a future government. In March, the group sent a delegation to Kabul for talks, but produced no results.

The militant Haqqani network is seen as closer to al Qaeda and has a long history of ties to Pakistan's spy services. Allied with the Taliban, the Haqqani group operates in southeastern and northern parts of the country, but often works independently of the Taliban, US officials say.

Pakistan, vital to US efforts in Afghanistan because of its contacts with militant groups, whose government says reaching a peace deal will be impossible without its help. Islamabad says it is "part of the solution", but US officials say elements of Pakistan's ISI spy agency back insurgents.

Saudi Arabia, the host of previous talks with the Taliban, has been suggested by Karzai's peace council as a possible mediator. Saudi Arabia was one of the three countries that recognised the Taliban government in the past. Diplomats say Saudi Arabia is being drawn into efforts to reach a settlement despite its reluctance to become involved with militants it once backed.

US officials say Tehran has a role in any negotiated end to the war, despite their worries over other Iranian issues. Iran has wide influence in Afghanistan, especially in the west where the two countries share a border.

Iran denies supporting militants in Afghanistan, but mainly Shi'ite Muslim Iran opposed the strict Sunni Taliban.

President Barack Obama's administration wants to start bringing US troops back from Afghanistan from July next year and the US leader and Nato allies are under pressure at home over the increasingly unpopular war. US officials want negotiations to respect its "red lines," which are that insurgents must renounce al Qaeda, lay down arms and respect the Afghan constitution.]]>
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			<title>Canadian child soldier Khadr to serve eight-year sentence</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70905/canadian-child-soldier-khadr-to-serve-eight-year-sentence</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70905/canadian-child-soldier-khadr-to-serve-eight-year-sentence#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 10:59:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70905</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[US military tribunal sentences former child soldier Omar Khadr to 40 years but a plea deal means a reduced sentence.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A US military tribunal has sentenced former child soldier Omar Khadr to 40 years in prison, but a plea deal means the Canadian citizen will serve up to eight years behind bars.

A seven-member military panel deliberated for nearly nine hours over a two-day period before reaching their decision for Khadr, who pleaded guilty on Monday to throwing a grenade that killed a US sergeant in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was just 15.

But the sentence announced Sunday was largely symbolic.

The case's military judge, US Army Colonel Patrick Parrish said that under a plea agreement, Khadr would serve one year at Guantanamo Bay and the rest in Canada, pending Ottawa's approval.

Prosecuting attorney Jeffrey Groharing had requested no fewer than 25 additional years in prison.

Khadr, now 24, became the third Guantanamo detainee to plead guilty and the fifth to face court proceedings before military commissions -- George W. Bush-era war tribunals President Barack Obama has reformed and reinstated.

He is the last Westerner held at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base where 174 "war on terror" detainees remain.

"The world is watching," Groharing told Khadr in closing arguments Saturday. "Your sentence will send a message to al Qaeda and others whose aims and goals are to kill and cause chaos around the world."

Khadr, who has already spent eight years at the Guantanamo prison camp, admitted in his plea agreement to throwing the grenade that killed sergeant Christopher Speer and told his widow that he was sorry.

He pleaded guilty to murder in violation of the laws of war, providing material assistance to a terrorist organization and espionage.

Born in Toronto on September 19, 1986 to a family of militants, Khadr was a beardless teenager when he was captured while severely wounded in Afghanistan. Today, he sports a sturdy physique, a tall man with a heavy beard and a scarred face.

Khadr's lead lawyer Lieutenant-Colonel Jon Jackson had asked the jury, which included three women, to take into account the time served at Guantanamo and sentence his client to two additional years in prison, rounding out his full punishment to 10 years.

"There is no deradicalization program in Guantanamo," Jackson said, recalling a psychiatrist who testified that Khadr was beyond redemption and a danger to society. "Every day he has been marinated in this jihad sauce."

Canada has denied its involvement in plea negotiations that took place in Guantanamo.

But in a diplomatic note made public Sunday, the Canadian government said it "is inclined to favourably consider Mr. Khadr's application to be transferred to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence, or such portion of the remainder of his sentence as the National Parole Board determines."

The note also states that Khadr will be able to apply for full parole following the completion of one-third of his sentence.

Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in a shootout with Pakistani forces in October 2003.

His sister Zaynab and brother Abdullah have been investigated for alleged ties to al Qaeda, and another brother, Abdurahman, has admitted that he and some of his siblings were trained by al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The Khadr family went to Pakistan when Omar was a child to help with reconstruction along the Pakistan-Afghan border following the withdrawal of Russian troops, according to an online family biography.

Khadr returned to Canada in 1995, going back to Pakistan the following year.

His family then lived in a compound in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where he allegedly met bin Laden for the first time.

Khadr returned to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

In a heavily redacted affidavit, Khadr says he was treated brutally after his capture. He was taken, severely wounded, to a military camp in Bagram, Afghanistan, and later to Guantanamo in October 2002.

A video posted online in July 2008 shows him sobbing and begging for help as Canadian agents interrogated him at Guantanamo.]]>
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			<title>Militants seize district in volatile Afghan province</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70820/afghan-governor-says-district-captured-from-taliban</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70820/afghan-governor-says-district-captured-from-taliban#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 10:30:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70820</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Security forces recapture remote southern district that had been overrun by Taliban guerrillas, says Afghan governor.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A large number of insurgents attacked and seized a district in an Afghan province on Sunday night, officials said, the latest in a string of assaults on foreign and government targets.

Mohammad Yaseen, police commander for Khogyani district in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, told Reuters the militants had set fire to the district headquarters and police had suffered casualties defending the area.

Yaseen, who fled to the provincial capital, Ghazni city, did not know the exact number of casualties and said the insurgents were still holding the area.

The Interior Ministry released a statement later on Monday saying the provincial police chief had travelled to the area to investigate and that Afghan police had regained control.

Several rooms in the district centre and a police vehicle were destroyed in the attack, it said, but gave no details on casualties.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the militant group had carried out the attack, adding the militants had seized police vehicles and weapons.

Taliban militants have seized similar districts in the past during the night only to retreat a few hours later, but Sunday's raid highlights the fragile security in some of the remote districts around the country.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the beginning of the war more than nine years ago, with a spike in deaths on all sides of the conflict.

The rising casualties among foreign troops and civilians will likely be examined when US President Barack Obama reviews his Afghanistan war strategy in December and at a Nato summit in Lisbon this month.

The Ghazni assault was only the latest in a series of significant attacks by the militants in the past few days.

On Saturday, US and other Nato troops killed as many as90 insurgents during attacks in different parts of Afghanistan, calling in air strikes to repel an assault on a combat outpost in the southeastern province of Paktika.

US troops at the outpost in Paktika came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades, gunfire and mortars, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.]]>
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			<title>Militants fire at NATO trucks, three hurt</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70804/militants-fire-at-nato-supply-truck-3-hurt</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70804/militants-fire-at-nato-supply-truck-3-hurt#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 05:32:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70804</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles fire at two NATO tankers in northwestern Pakistan wounding three people.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles fired at two Nato tankers on Monday near the town of Pabbi on the Grand Trunk road, wounding three persons, police said.

“Around eight militants in two cars intercepted two oil tankers and fired at them with Kalashnikovs,” local police official Hayat Khan told AFP.

“Two drivers and a helper were wounded and taken to a hospital in Peshawar. Their condition is stable now,” Khan said, adding that oil leaked from the tankers but did not catch fire.

Intelligence officials in Peshawar also confirmed the attack and said the attackers fled the scene. Pakistan shut the main Khyber Pass border crossing to Nato supply vehicles heading to Afghanistan on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border Nato helicopter assault killed two soldiers.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through the Khyber region.

Scores of Nato supply vehicles were destroyed in gun and arson attacks while the Khyber crossing was shut, as Taliban militants stepped up efforts to disrupt the route and avenge US drone strikes.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2010.]]>
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			<title>US drone strike kills 6 militants</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70783/us-drone-strike-kills-5-militants-in-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70783/us-drone-strike-kills-5-militants-in-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 04:49:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70783</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A US missile strike by a drone killed at least six militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A US missile strike by a drone killed at least six militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district on Monday,  Pakistan security officials said.

The attack targeted militants sleeping at a compound in Haider Khel village of Mir Ali district in North Waziristan, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of the region's main town of Miranshah.

"The drone fired two missiles," said a senior Pakistani security official on condition of anonymity.  "The compound belonged to local tribesman Ahmad Ali and had become a hub of militants' movement," a local security official said. The identities of those killed were not immediately clear, he added.

The United States considers the northwestern tribal region of Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, a haven for militants who use the lawless area as a base to plan and carry out attacks on Nato and Pakistani forces. The US has dramatically increased the frequency of drone strikes in the tribal belt in response to intelligence claims of a Mumbai-style terror plot to launch commando attacks on European cities.

More than 150 people have been killed since September 3, heightening tensions with Islamabad over reported US criticism of Pakistan's failure so far to launch a ground offensive in North Waziristan. The United States does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the pilotless aircraft in the region.

Officials in Washington say drone strikes are highly effective in the war against al Qaeda and its allies, killing a number of high-value targets, including the Pakistani Taliban's founding father Baitullah Mehsud.

However, the policy is unpopular among the Pakistan public who see military action on Pakistani soil as a breach of national sovereignty. It has led to reprisals from militant groups who have targeted Nato supply convoys destined for Afghanistan.]]>
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			<title>Afridi’s killing could be an act of reprisal</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70654/afridi%e2%80%99s-killing-could-be-an-act-of-reprisal</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/70654/afridi%e2%80%99s-killing-could-be-an-act-of-reprisal#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 10 04:39:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=70654</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Killing of TTP outlaw Adnan Khan Afridi may have been result of rivalry among militant groups.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The killing of Adnan Khan Afridi, who was the supreme commander of the outlawed Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Agency, could be the result of rivalry among militant groups, sources said on Sunday.

Afridi was shot dead by armed men on Tarnol and Fateh Jhang Road and his body was recovered on Friday. The body was shifted to the DHQ hospital Rawalpindi, but was identified by his relatives on Saturday.

Afridi had close ties with TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud and was known as his deputy in Khyber Agency but he was also active in Orakzai Agency and semi-tribal Dara Adam Khel region near Peshawar.

He was arrested by intelligence agencies in February 2004 for his suspected involvement in an attempt to kill the then president Gen Pervez Musharraf. Initially, he was arrested from a Mir Khankhel village near Jamrud in Khyber Agency for sheltering an al Qaeda militant from Morocco, Abdul Rahman. It is not known as to how he was released by the agencies.

Afridi was also responsible for masterminding the killing of another top militant leader, Haji Namdar Afridi, in August 2008. He was involved in different terrorist activities, including attacks on the Political Agent of Khyber Agency and other government officials. “His killing could be an act of revenge by Namdar’s men,” the source said.

Namdar, one of the three top militant commanders in Khyber Agency, was shot dead by a young militant in the headquarters of his outfit Amr bil Maruf wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtues and Prevention Vice) in Bara. The attacker was said to be a teenager, who was caught by Namdar’s men on the spot and later executed.

The main reason for their rivalry was Namdar’s refusal to allow the TTP access to the strategically important Khyber region.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2010.]]>
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