Posts Tagged ‘Waziristan’

Related post: A month since Taliban executed 15 Pakistani soldiers, yet no outrage. Now watch the executions; perhaps… Editor's note: In the following article published in Daily Times, Farhat Taj highlights a case of selective morality and hypocrisy recently demonstrated by Pakistan army and its right-wing as well as "liberal" affiliates in [...]

Related Post : A survey of Drone Attacks in Pakistan .What do the people of FATA think? by Farhat Taj With thanks :BBC The following article suggests that contrary to what the military establishment and their proxies would like us to believe, Waziris want a continuation of drone attacks against the Punjabi/Afghan/Arab terrorists; it [...]

Widely-cited reports of the inaccuracy and disproportionality of civilian to militant deaths in the CIA’s ongoing Predator drone campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan are grossly misleading. The most detailed database compiled to date, assembled by the authors of this article, indicates (among other important findings) that the [...]

Arundhati Roy, a name that needs no introduction even in Pakistani government’s “or” religious intellectual circles and she is often quoted in mainstream media because she is not just a fierce critic of US foreign policy but she had denounced rise of Hindu nationalism and extremism. After tailoring such views they are propagated by [...]

Pashtuns straddling the Pakistani-Afghan border face serious challenges to their socio-cultural survival. It's very hard for the estimated 50 million Pashtuns to know whether the world recognizes their numerous sacrifices in the ongoing war, or whether all of them have simply been dismissed by the outside world as Taliban supporters and [...]

The doctrine of strategic depth means Pakistan is not a safe haven for Pakhtuns opposing Taliban or Talibanization either with arms or musical instruments. The ordeal of the late Kamal Mahsud, a well-known singer from Waziristan, and his family is a case in point. Mahsud went on singing despite threats passed by Taliban. He was ordered [...]

This article is exclusively written for the LUBP by our valued reader and member of the Pakhtunkhwa Peace Forum (PPF) Shahid Ilyas. We are thankful to him for sharing his thoughts with us on this very important issue. (aliarqam) Nation-building or reconciliation between nationalities Far from being successful in building a “nation”, [...]

There is a Pashto proverb: ‘Oba pa kamzori zai mateegee’ (water makes its course on the weaker bank). It is happening in Waziristan now as the political administration is forcing the displaced Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen to hand over the militants or face the music. It is ironic that the warning comes from the political administration [...]

ISLAMABAD - The year 2009 was a second watershed in the Taliban-led struggle against foreign forces in Afghanistan as the resistance took the war, previously limited mainly to the south and western parts of the country, to north and eastern provinces. In 2006, the Taliban emerged for the first time as a coherent force since being toppled from [...]

The investigations into Faisal Shahzad’s attempted car bombing in New York have shifted focus to his links in Pakistan. While little evidence has so far emerged of his link to one or the other terrorist group, his own admission according to US officials says he received bomb-making training in North Waziristan during a five-month stay in the [...]

Kamal Mehsud’s story is just one of the hundreds of stories of horror in Waziristan. The other stories are much more brutal and sinister in terms of the intelligence agencies’ collusion with the Taliban Kamal Mehsud was the most famous singer of Waziristan. He died in January 2010 in a fire that broke out in his house when his family was [...]

Dangerous abyss of perception The Pakistan Army is engaged in ‘friendly fire’ with the jihadi gangs in which the civilians, poor soldiers of the security forces, especially FC soldiers, policemen and foot soldiers of the Taliban are killed. This, according to the Pakhtun perception, is in line with the scheme of things of the [...]

I know I am very late. Wanted to write this post for quite some time but was distracted by other urgent and non-urgent businesses. Yet, it is never too late. Here is my recommendation for a must watch TV drama serial (in case it escaped your attention). As Taliban militants in Pakistan wage war on the state and the army goes on the offensive [...]

Two great articles on the situation in Waziristan. The first article by Farhat Taj requests the educated people of Waziristan to give a strong rebuttal to disinformed writers in the west and in Pakistan. The second article (in Urdu) by Abdul Haye Kakar of BBC Urdu which reveals that a dangerous (more...)

Here is a five-part series "Held by the Taliban" offering a first-person account by David Rohde of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Rohde, a New York Times reporter, was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on Nov. 10, 2008, as they traveled to an interview with a Taliban commander (more...)

Aye watan kay sajeelay jawano... (more...)

Yuldashev: end of a regional terroristThe death in South Waziristan of Qari Tahir Yuldashev by an American drone closes the career of a (more...)

Post-Baitullah TTPWednesday, September 09, 2009 (The News)Saleem SafiIt would be too optimistic to believe that the killing of Baitullah Mehsud has smashed the TTP network. It is a fact that the TTP has been weakened in the past few weeks and months, however, there are some factors which need to be considered.The major blow to the TTP was caused [...]

What lies in WaziristanMonday, August 31, 2009Zafar HilalyCompared to what awaits the Pakistan Army in Waziristan, the Swat operation was a skirmish. There 30,000 Taliban wait to give battle. As fighters, they are matchless and have few equals in the art of mobile warfare. Their fanaticism, ruthlessness, ability to withstand huge losses conjoined [...]

Irfan Siddiqui (a pro-Taliban journalist) and Latif Chaudhry (a pro-democracy journalist) offer two opposite perspecitves on the US drone attacks on the Taliban/Al Qaeda hideouts. These two articles are followed by an analysis by Saleem Safi (more...)

Is the despised leader of the Deobandi-Wahhabi alliance in Pakistan, namely Taliban (or Sipah-e-Sahaba or Al-Qaeda), finally killed? Is the spiritual son of General Zia-ul-Haq killed? Our condolences to the supporters of Taliban, namely Ijaz-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Mullah Munawar Hassan, and (more...)

It seems that our friends in Waziristan, the ISI and their agent Baitullah Mehsud, are showing signs of nervousness because of the increasing USA/NATO pressure on the Taliban hideouts in Pakistan. Pakistan militants blow up radio station in NW region www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-03 21:08:34 Special Report: Pakistani Situation ISLAMABAD, [...]

By Rahimullah YusufzaiBaitullah Mehsud, a larger-than-life figure from the tribal region of South Waziristan, continues to draw attention on the world stage. Recently, Time magazine named him in its annual list of the 100 most influential persons in the world. And a few (more...)

A group of supporters of Taliban's commander Baitullah Mehsud - Reuters/File photo.One of the above will attack a police station in Lahore, killing 20 cops and 10 ordinary citizens.Another will attack the house (more...)

S Waziristan: US drones attack toll reaches to 16Updated at: 1140 PST, Saturday, February 14, 2009 WANA: The death toll of US missile attack in Ladha area of South Waizirstan has reached to 16.According to sources, US drone planes fired two [...]

'Intense, focused and targeted'Saturday, February 07, 2009by Rahimullah YusufzaiUnlike the earlier two phases of the military operations in Swat in 2007 and 2008, the latest one initiated in late January is being praised by the ANP-PPP government in the NWFP and sections of the population opposed to the militants. The more discerning elements of [...]

The authorities in Pakistan have often seemed in cahoots with home-grown terrorists. Not any more. Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark report from Islamabad and the border badlands as a new intelligence unit gets serious about tackling the bombers. (more...)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008During the past week or so, militants have carried out serious attacks in Peshawar and nearby Jamrud in Khyber agency. It included the unfortunate murder of development worker Stephen Vance, the kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat, a botched kidnapping of two journalists one of them Japanese, a suicide attack at the gates [...]