At least 22, including both rebels and government troops, are dead in fresh fighting with presumed Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The bloodiest clash was in Helmand province, where troops were ambushed on night patrol. "Our mujahideen killed the soldiers in… Read moreRenewed violence in Afghanistan
The BBC reported a glimmer of hope Jan. 27 from Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, where Taliban-inspired movements have won local political control over the semi-autonomous Tribal Areas. Two local kids, Tariq Hussain Bacha and Zeeshan Khan (respectively 12 and 11), have… Read moreYoung music stars defy mullahs in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
Guerillas of the Baluchistan Liberation Army threatened to blow up Pakistan’s most important oil and gas facility at Dhodak, in the central province of Punjab. The statement, phoned into several newspapers Feb. 6 by a spokesman called Azad Baluch (an… Read moreBaluchi rebels threaten Pakistan oilfields
The largely invisible suffering of Afghanistan’s internal refugees made a rare appearance in the US media Feb. 4 with a NY Times story and front-page (below-the-fold) photo. The article noted that eighteen people have died in the refugee camps outside… Read moreAfghan refugees: still in plight
Ishaq Levin, one of the last two Jews in Kabul (and presumably in all of Afghanistan), was buried at Jerusalem’s honored Mount of Olives Feb. 2. When Taliban rule ended three years ago, Levin and Zebulon Simentov were found living… Read moreAfghan Jews: down to one
The separatist insurgency that has been shaking Paksitan’s Baluchistan province–strategically bordering Afghanistan–since the beginning of the year seemed to have come out of nowhere. Finally, a Jan. 29 account in the BBC sheds some light. It seems the natural gas… Read moreGas operations at root of Baluch insurgency
More violence in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous Northwest Tribal Areas. This time rival clans in a land dispute in Miranshah, North Waziristan, decided to settle scores with live fire in the middle of a crowded market, leaving seven dead. (Bahrain’s Gulf Daily… Read morePakistan: unstable, nuclear
Baluchi guerillas shut down Pakistan’s top gas field with rocket attacks on the pipeline. Why is nobody paying attention? ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Supplies from Pakistan’s main gas field have been fully restored, officials said on Saturday 11 days after a… Read morePakistan guerillas hit pipeline
If it hits the fan in Pakistan, Bush’s victory in neighboring Afghanistan could be a Pyrric one… From AP: QUETTA, Pakistan – Three rockets fired by unidentified assailants landed in a residential area of this deeply conservative southwestern Pakistani city,… Read moreNext: Free Baluchistan?
Nobody’s paying much attention, but Pakistan is on the brink of civil war. Taliban-types have taken power in much of the Northwest Tribal Areas along the Afghan border, while tribespeople in Baluchistan–also along the Afghan border, to the southwest–have launched… Read moreIran behind Pakistan guerillas?
