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Latest Articles about South Asia
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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CIA Drone Strikes in Pakistan’s FATA Region and the “Loss” of Actionable Intelligence: A Pashtun Perspective
The Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of northwestern Pakistan is under the de facto joint control of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, except for the tribal agency of South Waziristan, which was recently retaken from the Mahsud Taliban network by the Pakistani army. Previously, the Taliban... MORE
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Taliban Exploit Shi’a-Sunni Divide in Pakistan’s Kurram Tribal Agency
Kurram Tribal Agency in northwest Pakistan continues to be a flashpoint of violence created by the volatile sectarian strife between Shi’a and Sunnis and the gradually strengthening hold of the Taliban in the area. Kurram Agency, the only Shi’a majority tribal agency in Pakistan, has... MORE
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Karzai’s State Visit Highlights Beijing’s Afghan Priorities
From March 23 to March 25, Afghan President Hamid Karzai conducted a state visit to China. The trip underscored the People's Republic of China's (PRC) support for the Karzai-led government, with the Afghan president telling his hosts that Sino-Afghanistan relations were better than at any... MORE
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The Rise and Fall of the Islamic Jihad Union: What Next for Uzbek Terror Networks?
On March 4, a Dusseldorf judge convicted four men for their involvement in a plot to unleash a series of bomb attacks against U.S. army facilities in Germany. Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider, both German converts to Islam, and Adem Yilmaz and Attila Selek, both... MORE