Latest Articles about South Asia
The Impact of Pashtun Tribal Differences on the Pakistani Taliban
Though members of militant Islamic groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and other jihadis have almost the same anti-United States and pro-al-Qaeda worldview, they are not especially disciplined when it comes to organizational matters. Difficulty in this area explains the existence of so many extremist... MORE
The Emerging Militancy in Pakistan’s Mohmand Agency
The challenge of militancy in Pakistan's tribal region is no longer confined to the North and South Waziristan regions along the Afghan border. After establishing their strongholds in Waziristan, militants have recently made deeper inroads in the erstwhile peaceful Mohmand tribal agency in Pakistan’s Federally... MORE
Pakistan’s Frontier Corps Struggles to Hold Forts against Taliban Attacks
On the night of January 15, the Sararogha Fort manned by Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) fell to Islamic militants in a remote part of the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan (The News [Islamabad], January 17). It was the first time in the 60-year... MORE
Islamist Militants Target the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, has emerged as a battleground for Islamist militants. In the past three years it has endured more jihadi terrorist attacks than any other Indian state outside of Jammu and Kashmir. The Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI)—an outlawed group with bases... MORE
South Waziri Tribesmen Organize Counterinsurgency Lashkar
Four days after the murder of nine members of a government-sponsored peace committee in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan, tribal leaders have vowed to organize a special force of tribesmen to expel foreign militants from the region. The deceased were involved in an attempt... MORE
Insurrection in Iranian Balochistan
Issues of dissent and rebellion amongst Iran’s elaborate patchwork of ethnic and sectarian minority communities are receiving increasing international scrutiny. Many advocacy organizations representing Iranian minorities accuse Tehran of operating a policy of cultural subjugation aimed at erasing identities distinct from Iran’s dominant Persian culture... MORE
Baitullah Mehsud – The Taliban’s New Leader in Pakistan
Baitullah Mehsud, the most feared and dangerous militant commander in Pakistan’s tribal region, has not only become the public face of militancy in the country, but is now also openly posing a serious threat to U.S. efforts to bring stability to neighboring war-torn Afghanistan. Mehsud... MORE
Bhutto Warns of al-Qaeda Threat to Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal
Amidst the ongoing disorder in Pakistan, a nuclear weapon falling into jihadi hands is a grave concern for neighboring states as well as for the global community. There is mounting apprehension in Washington about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons as the turmoil in the... MORE
Is the NWFP Slipping out of Pakistan’s Control?
A discredited military regime in the center, the problematic rule of a religious political alliance (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA), ill-planned military operations in the adjacent Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) belt and the growing unpopularity of the “war on terror” have all tarnished the socio-political... MORE
Pakistan Loses Swat to Local Taliban
In recent weeks large swathes of Pakistan’s idyllic mountainous region of Swat—a mere 90 miles from Islamabad—have fallen to militants purportedly led by Maulana Fazlullah, whose Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shari’at-e-Mohammad (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws, or TNSM) shaheen (fighters) may number as many as 4,500. Swat’s... MORE