Latest Articles about South Asia
Empowering “Soft” Taliban Over “Hard” Taliban: Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy
The phenomenal rise of various Pakistani Taliban militant groups since 2004 and subsequent militant activities in both Pakistan and Afghanistan have surprised many. In a short span of nearly three years, the Pakistani Taliban threat has developed into a considerable political and security challenge to... MORE
Fueling the Taliban: Poppies, Guns and Insurgents
Afghanistan has rarely been absent recently from the international press, but developments in the country have once more brought it to the world’s attention. According to tallies based on military statements, June was the second month in a row in which casualties of foreign troops... MORE
RUSSIA’S VIEWS ON AFGHANISTAN: DOES “SIZE MATTER”?
Russia’s assessment of NATO’s operations in Afghanistan, as well as the future nature of the alliance’s mission there, has been mooted within Russian diplomatic circles. These observations, shared with the alliance through official channels, point to genuine concern within Russia’s government and its military and... MORE
Military Operations in FATA: Eliminating Terrorism or Preventing the Balkanization of Pakistan?
Ever since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the radical turnaround in Pakistan’s policy toward the Taliban, there has been an ongoing debate in Pakistan over whether President Pervez Musharraf has gone too far in supporting the U.S.-sponsored War on Terrorism. The popular sentiment against... MORE
History’s Muse Prepares to Ring the Closing Bell on the West’s War in Afghanistan
So far this year, we have seen U.S. and Western leaders continuing to deal with Afghanistan in an ahistorical manner, as if their Afghan problem can easily wait until they can finally work our correct levels of troop strength and funding to solve it. For... MORE
Rumors of al-Qaeda’s Death May Be Highly Exaggerated
Whether said about the aging process or the implacable approach of writing deadlines, the old saw about “time flying” is certainly true. But seldom has it been truer than in the three weeks since this author last wrote for Terrorism Focus. At dawn on May... MORE
Khyber Tribal Agency: A New Hub of Islamist Militancy in Pakistan
Pakistan’s tribal belt has been the center of global attention for several years because of widespread speculation regarding the presence of al-Qaeda fugitives and Taliban leaders. Since the start of military operations in late 2003, violence and bloodshed has become a routine matter, particularly in... MORE
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Return to the Afghan Insurgency
The Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Party of Afghanistan, or HIA), sidelined from Afghan politics since the fall of the mujahideen regime to the Taliban in the mid-1990s, has recently reemerged as an aggressive militant group, claiming responsibility for many bloody attacks against Coalition forces and the... MORE
The Bengali Taliban: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
The April 30 sentencing of four cadres of the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to 26 years of hard labor for throwing bombs at a local court in 2005 returned the focus to Bangladesh’s struggle against pressing odds to contain the rise of Islamic extremism (Daily... MORE
Pakistan’s Taliban Negotiating Peace, Preparing for War
Secret peace talks between the government and the Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organization of Pakistani Taliban groups, collapsed in late April but the unilateral ceasefire declared by the latter is still in place (The News International [Islamabad], April 29). By agreeing to continue observing... MORE