Latest Articles about South Asia
Sectarian Violence Escalates in Balochistan as Shi’a Holy Month Approaches
Recent incidents in which dozens of Shi’a Hazaras have been killed by Sunni militants have put Balochistan’s religious minority on a knife’s edge. On October 4, a bus ferrying Shi’a men to work at a vegetable market on the outskirts of Quetta was assaulted by... MORE
India Seeks To Project Power In and Out of Central Asia
When the British-Russian rivalry was starting in Central Asia about two centuries ago, few could have predicted that India – a British platform of that geopolitical struggle – would rise, as a sovereign power, to project influence in the very region once vied over by... MORE
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s Expanding Western Connections
As the United States breathed a sigh of relief that the 10th anniversary of 9/11 had passed without any major incident, the U.S. Justice Department announced that three men had pled guilty to charges of trying to smuggle a member of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)... MORE
Is Tajikistan Capable of Defending Its Own Borders?
After a year of media speculation and contradictory remarks by Tajik and Russian officials, the authorities in Dushanbe have finally made it clear that Tajikistan does not want Russian troops to return to defend the country’s southern border with Afghanistan.Tajikistan and Russia are expected to... MORE
September 2011 Briefs
FORMER AFGHAN MUJAHIDEEN LEADER KILLED IN SUICIDE BOMBING Former major mujahideen figure, one-time Afghan president, and current head of Hamid Karzai’s High Council for Peace Ustad (Professor) Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed in a suicide bombing at his home in Kabul’s relatively posh Wazir Akbar Khan... MORE
Pakistan Seeks Administrative Solution to Terrorism on the Northwest Frontier
Although new changes to colonial-era laws known as the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) are aimed at giving more political freedom to the people living in the lawless Pakistani tribal areas, one of the unstated objectives of the government seems to be defeating the militants with... MORE
Pakistan’s Military Urges Tribal Uprising against Militants in North Waziristan
While U.S. pressure on Pakistan for a full-scale operation against the Haqqani Network and other militant groups in the North Waziristan Agency is growing, the Pakistani military is urging the local Wazir and Dawar tribes of the North Waziristan to initiate a “Wana-like uprising” to... MORE
BRIEFS
TALIBAN ISSUE STATEMENT ON USE OF CHILD SUICIDE BOMBERS Afghanistan’s Taliban movement is seeking to deflect a wave of criticism surrounding its alleged use of children as suicide bombers following a public appearance by President Hamid Karzai with eight children the president said were recruited... MORE
Quadripartite Summit On Afghanistan Falls Short of Russian Expectations
Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, and Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan held a quadripartite meeting on September 2 in Dushanbe. The presidents gave preliminary consideration to possible security and cooperation arrangements for the region, in anticipation of... MORE
A Threat to the Khyber Pass: An Extended Portrait of Mangal Bagh Afridi
Coming from obscurity, Mangal Bagh Afridi rose to power and notoriety by controlling Lashkar-e-Islam (LI- the Army of Islam), the biggest and most influential militant group in Pakistan’s Khyber Agency. Khyber Agency is the most strategically important of the seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in... MORE