Iran
Iran hangs 16 after Baluch border clash
Sixteen accused militants were hanged in Iran’s Baluchistan province—in apparent retaliation for the deaths of at least 14 border guards in an ambush just the night before.
Tag: Pakistan
Afghanistan
US must investigate Pakistan drone strikes: Amnesty
Amnesty International urged the US to conduct a thorough, independent investigation into allegations that CIA drone strikes have resulted in recent civilian casualties in Pakistan.
Afghanistan
Malala Yousafzai: still a hero!
Malala Yousafzai has not been co-opted by international accolades, as evidenced by her protests against US drone strikes—to President Obama’s very face.
Afghanistan
Pakistan stock market soars on terror wave
Over the past year of growing violence and chaos in Pakistan, the Karachi Stock Exchange surged more than 44%, placing it among the world’s top-performing stock markets.
Watching the Shadows
UN SG: US drone strikes must comply with international law
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon insisted that US drone strikes must operate within international law, and make “every effort to avoid mistakes and civilian casualties.”
Afghanistan
ISI behind Taliban attack on Indian consulate?
Delhi had apparently warned its ambassador in Kabul of an impending attack plotted in Pakistan—immediately before the assault on the Indian consulate in Jalalabad.
Afghanistan
Will ‘peace’ mean betrayal of Afghan women?
The Taliban have opened a "political office" in Qatar preparatory to talks with Kabul and the US—after years of propaganda about the US defending women's rights in Afghanistan.
Central Asia
Asia’s secret nuclear arms race
For all the hoopla about North Korea, a far more significant threat on the Asian continent is getting virtually no coverage: the nuclear arms race between China and India.
Watching the Shadows
Obama addresses drone strikes, steps to close Gitmo
President Obama’s speech outlining plans to restrict drone strikes and renew efforts to close Guantánamo Bay did little more than reiterate existing policy.
Afghanistan
Chief prosecutor in Musharraf case killed
Chaudhry Zulfikar, chief prosecutor in the criminal case against Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on his way to a hearing.
Watching the Shadows
Barbara Lee: repeal AUMF to stop ‘perpetual war’
Rep. Barbara Lee called for the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force to be repealed, warning that the alternative could be a “state of perpetual war forever.”
Iran
Iranian Qaeda connection rears its dubious head —in Canada
Following last month's claims about al-Qaeda biggie Sulaiman Abu Ghaith having been sheltered by Iran, Canadian authorities boast breaking up an Iran-backed Qaeda plot.