Latest Articles about South Asia
The Religious Godfather of the Punjabi Taliban: Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi
Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, the elder brother of Abdul Rasheed Ghazi of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) infamy is probably the most notable Islamic ideologue in Pakistan’s rapidly radicalizing society (The Nation [Lahore], July 3, 2007). [1] With a following of thousands of diehard Islamists who... MORE
The Asian Tigers – The New Face of the Punjabi Taliban
The emergence in North Waziristan of the Asian Tigers, a previously unknown jihadi group, has several messages for jihad watchers. Two of them are very important. First, the Punjabi Taliban are slowly but surely growing in strength and numbers. Second, their war is primarily against... MORE
Missile Developments in China, India and Pakistan: A Burgeoning Missile Race
The rapid development and deployment of cruise and ballistic missile capabilities in recent years has raised the security stakes on the South Asian subcontinent. The three major nuclear states—India, China and Pakistan—have been sharpening their respective missile capabilities and stockpiling a growing arsenal, while simultaneously... MORE
Pakistan’s Ongoing Azm-e-Nau-3 Military Exercises Define Strategic Priorities
For the last few years, the Pakistan Army has been slowly but surely drifting away from fighting the war on terror and placing more stress on building its capabilities to fight its archrival, nuclear-armed India. The process was accelerated when General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani took... MORE
Rashid Rauf and the New York City Subway Bombing Plot
As security agencies pursue ethnic Pakistani suspects in the attempted Times Square bombing, another New York City bomb plot with connections to Pakistan and the U.K. is working its way through U.S. courts. The case involves an aborted attempt by natives of Pakistan and Afghanistan... MORE
Kishenji: A Profile of the Leader of the Indian Maoist Insurgency
Mallojula Koteshwar Rao, better known by the nom de guerre Kishenji, is the military leader of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and may have recently surpassed the leaders of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Tayyba as the biggest security headache for India’s ruling elites in New Delhi. Kishenji... MORE
The Hazara Division of Pakistan–Growing Talibanization amidst Political Instability and Ethnic Tensions
Recently the terrorism-battered northwest frontier of Pakistan was hit by another kind of mayhem when the previously peaceful Hazara Division of the former North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) witnessed bloody clashes between police and rioters over the issue of renaming the province “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa” (Dawn [Karachi], April... MORE
HuJI Operations Expand Beyond the Indian Subcontinent
Formed in 1984, the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI – Movement of Islamic Holy War) has fought Soviets in Afghanistan and Indians in Kashmir before expanding to Bangladesh. From its focused beginnings, HuJI has developed into an international jihadi group that appears ready to demonstrate its global... MORE
The Economic Underpinnings of China’s Regional Security Strategy in Afghanistan
Cooperation between China and Afghanistan has not been consistent since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1955. However, following 9/11, their economic and security cooperation has continued to develop. On March 24, Presidents, Hamid Karzai and Hu Jintao, signed yet another package of economic... MORE
Yemen’s Dangerous Addiction to Qat
Yemen faces an abundance of complex and interrelated social, economic, and environmental problems. Yemen's many challenges are compounded by the country's addiction to qat. Large parts of Yemen’s society and economy are organized around the consumption and production of this stimulant.Qat consists of the tender... MORE