Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "operation"
Osama Bin Laden is dead: what next for Pakistan?
The dramatic events of May 2, enacted in Pakistan’s small, sleepy town of Abbottabad have surely shaken the world. The global icon of al Qaeda — Osama bin Laden — has been ‘eliminated’ through a well-executed, covert operation. This was a major victory for charismatic US president Barack Obama especially given his dwindling popularity, and will help him survive in office, perhaps, for another term. It isunlikely that this development will lead to the end of global terrorism. While his death may have symbolic value, Osama was not in any case in charge of al Qaeda operations and hence the impact may not be much. The most significant aspect of this game-changing event, perhaps, is the cutting of all ties between al Qaeda and sections of our security establishment. While Pakistan’s assistance … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Pakistan, Terrorism
REFLECTIONS POST-MAY 28
An exclusive post by Aamenah Yusafzai for PTH The recent attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen the rights of Pakistani minorities. Pakistan is not a country inhabited by Muslims only, or even Sunni Muslims. This is represented by the green and white of the Pakistani flag, a fact often taken for granted. The three quarter green represents the majority Muslim population, while the one quarter white represents non-Muslim minorities. The preamble to the Constitution provides that provisions be made for “minorities freely to profess and practice their religion and develop their cultures.” Furthermore, it provides for guarantees to “fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism
Taking on the Taliban, by Steve Coll
Cross Post from The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/03/01/100301taco_talk_coll The Taliban’s jihad, like rock and roll, has passed from youthful vigour into a maturity marked by the appearance of nostalgic memoirs. Back in the day, Abdul Salam Zaeef belonged to the search committee that recruited Mullah Omar as the movement’s commander; after the rebels took power in Kabul, he served as ambassador to Pakistan. “My Life with the Taliban,” published this winter, announces Zaeef’s début in militant letters. The volume contains many sources of fascination, but none are more timely than the author’s account of his high-level relations with Pakistani intelligence. While in office, Zaeef found that he “couldn’t entirely avoid” the influence of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. Its officers volunteered money and political support. Late in 2001, as the United States prepared … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, India, Islamabad, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, war
Pakistan: Countering Militancy in FATA
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT Pakistan: Countering Militancy in FATA Islamabad/Brussels, 21 October 2009: The military operation in South Waziristan is unlikely to succeed in curbing the spread of religious militancy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), unless the Pakistan government implements political reforms in that part of the country. … Read entire article »
Finally Waziristan…
Bilal Qureshi Finally, the operation in Wazristan is under way, thank God. Pakistan is doing a good job of clearing every place that was a safe heaven for the nuts in and around Pakistan. Now, policy makers in Pakistan should not focus on achieving short term military objective. This war is not going to be easy and a lot of people believe that this is a generational issue as for as defeating the Taliban threat. Obviously the military is going to easily defeat those who are going to take up arms against the army in Wazirstan, or at the very least, it is hoped that the army is going to defeat them. However, after the military moves out, how will the civilian population going to react to the future Talibans interested in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism
Pakistan Attacks Show Tightening of Militant Links
By JANE PERLEZ ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A wave of attacks against top security installations over the last several days demonstrated that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and militant groups once nurtured by the government are tightening an alliance aimed at bringing down the Pakistani state, government officials and analysts said. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Lahore, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, war
Cantonment in Swat ?
by Ibrahim Khalil At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, let me quote a joke that was making the round couple of years ago. After a meeting between Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf, an announcement is made that Kashmir issue has been resolved. At the press conference, Manmohan Singh says that “Pakistan has agreed to give up its claim of holding a plebiscite in Kashmir. General Musharraf will inform you of the rest of the details”. General Musharraf comes on the microphone and says, “We have fought three wars with India over Kashmir. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan
Into the Swat Refugee Camp
source: counterpunch.org Down and Out in Shah Mansoor By KATHY KELLY and DAN PEARSON In Pakistan’s Swabi district, a bumpy road leads to Shah Mansoor, a small village surrounded by farmland. Just outside the village, uniform size tents are set up in hundreds of rows. The sun bores down on the Shah Mansoor camp which has become a temporary home to thousands of displaced Pakistanis from the Swat area. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, war
Pakistan: Chaos Unto Order?
Haris Gazdar (Economic and Political Weekly) The Pakistani military finally appears to have embraced the war against jihadi militancy as its own. If so, an important shift in perception and policy has taken place. Past experience, however, demands caution before coming to any hasty conclusions. Things are chaotic enough in any case, for there to be sufficient material evidence to support optimists and sceptics alike. It is possible, nevertheless, to post milestones that will need to be crossed if we are to decisively move in the right direction. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Taliban, war
Peshawar blast
Raza Rumi Pak Tea House mourns the death of a dedicated aid workers in the Pearl Continental. As I am a part of the development ‘set’, such incidents are deeply disturbing. After all development workers work in difficult circumstances for a commitment to their professions which in theory at least is based on idealism. We are saddened to see that UN staff have offered their lives along with scores of innocent Pakistani civilians. Why are the extremists killing inoccent civilians – in a war surely you choose your targets or is it just a reflection of the mayhem they want to create and make it into another terror-zone. … Read entire article »
The Women of Swat and ‘Mullah Radio'
From a group of NWFP women “Islam started as soon as we fled from Malakand. People outside Swat think we had Islam and Shariat. There is no Islam in Swat. The Taliban have finished it.’ -woman from Mingawera, Swat, in a Sawabai camp Where does one begin to tell you what they have been saying. It is difficult to explain because it is difficult for some of us to believe, to understand and, at times, even to empathise with. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
Pakistan military campaign has broad support, but for how long?
People across Pakistan, and even in the northwest, support the offensive against the local Taliban militants. But among refugees, and areas bearing the brunt of the influx, patience is wearing thin. By Alex Rodriguez Reporting from Mardan, Pakistan — Cradled in his father’s arms, 8-month-old Maaz Ayaz appeared listless and underweight. A smudge of dirt marked the boy’s face. His father, Mohammed Ayaz, anxiously talked of how he and his wife could feed Maaz only tea and biscuits … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan
US proxy war continues in north-west Pakistan
By James Cogan The arrival of Obama administration special envoy Richard Holbrooke in Pakistan on Wednesday serves to underscore that the massive military operation taking place in the country’s north-west is a proxy war on behalf on US imperialism. As part of completing the transformation of Afghanistan into a client-state in Central Asia, Obama is demanding that the Pakistani government suppress the local Islamist movements that lend support to the Afghan resistance over the border. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, USA, war
In Loving Memory of Capt. Omerzeb (Shaheed)
Since the operation against militants began in April last month, over 1,100 militants had been killed and over 60 soldiers had been martyred so far. Yet I never felt the pain of those dying in the name of their country’s sovereignty against terrorism so excruciating as the martyrdom of my sister’s fiancé. … Read entire article »
Aid agencies prepare for growing emergency as Pakistan conflict widens
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI – Aid workers struggling to help hundreds of thousands of war-displaced people in Pakistan are preparing for even greater challenges as the army looks to expand its offensive against Taliban militants to the border with Afghanistan. The month-long operation against insurgents in the picturesque Swat Valley and other parts of the northwest has caused one of the largest internal displacements in recent times, with around 2.5 million people forced to seek refuge in camps or with host communities. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
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