Afghanistan
Afghanistan: 20,000 troops to remain?
Gen. John R. Allen, outgoing US commander in Afghanistan, submitted military options to the Pentagon that would keep 6,000 to 20,000 troops in the country after 2014.
Tag: Pakistan
Afghanistan
Pakistan to Lebanon: Shi’ites under attack
Bomb attacks on Shi’ite processions marking Ashura claimed lives in Pakistan, while Sunnis and Shi’ites clashed in Kabul and a planned attack on Shi’ites was thwarted in Lebanon.
Afghanistan
Give the Nobel Peace Prize to Malala Yousafzai!
The European Union is singularly undeserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. A global call must be raised for this year’s prize to be transferred to the truly heroic Malala Yousafzai.
Afghanistan
Will American left betray heroine Malala Yousafzai?
Malala Yousafzai is hailed as a symbol of courage by progressives and secularists in Pakistan, but the American left has been shamefully silent—or else portraying her as a neocon pawn.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: Taliban shoot 14-year-old blogger
Young blogger and rights activist Malala Yousafzai is fighting for her life in a Peshawar hospital after she was attacked on her school bus by Taliban militants.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: mobilization against drone strikes
Hundreds of Pakistanis, joined by dozens of activists from the US, launched a motorcade “march” against US drone strikes that they hope will reach the Afghan border region.
Greater Middle East
Jihad against the phantom menace hits Sinai
The jihad against a non-existent “film” produced by non-existent “Jews” continues to claim lives, with the latest attack launched by militants in Egypt’s Sinai on Israeli border troops.
Afghanistan
US drone strike kills Haqqani network commander?
The Haqqani network and allied Taliban denied reports that top commander Badruddin Haqqani was killed in a US drone strike, saying a 13-year-old relative was the victim.
Afghanistan
Next: nuclear Taliban?
A jihadist attack on Pakistan’s Minhas Air Force Base coincides with a US Congressional report on threats to the “security” of Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal.
Greater Middle East
Ramadan drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan
Multiple US drone strikes have hit targets in Yemen and Afghanistan during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, killing several—all said to be al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Afghanistan
China launches bid to undermine trans-Afghan pipeline project
A Chinese proposal for a pipeline route across northern Afghanistan for Caspian Basin gas could sabotage the US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project.
South Asia
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A suicide bomber killed at least 130 at a campaign rally in Pakistan's Balochistan province— the deadliest attack in the country since 2014. A local candidate with the Balochistan Awami Party was among the dead. The local franchise of the Islamic State took credit for the attack. Radio Free Europe portrays the BAP as part of the Pakistani military establishment’s plan to undermine Baluch ethno-nationalist groups. Balochistan province is part of the larger region of Baluchistan, homeland of the Baluch people, long divided between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are movements for Baluch independence in each of these countries, but they have been unable to unite across the nation-state boundaries. The attack may point to an ISIS strategy to disrupt electoral ethno-nationalist initiatives, and co-opt the Baluch struggle across all three borders, wedding it to Sunni extremism. (Map via Atheer)