Pakistan’s New War Games
Note: The following is a partial repost of my story that ran on Reuters India. TAMEWALI KHARIPUR, Pakistan (Reuters) — Pakistan army troops backed by fighter planes conducted a mock battle with India in the largest military exercise in 21 years, signalling that the old rival remained its biggest security threat. In a dusty yet impressive display of conventional […]
Pakistan’s Civil War Heating Up
In the aftermath of this weekend’s assault on the Pakistani General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the Taliban hit again in Alpuri, in the Shangla district east of Mingora in Swat. According to military sources who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to talk to the press, a 13– or 14-year-old boy walked up to an Army convoy […]
Why Pakistan's Delaying its Waziristan Push
Well, not to say I told you so, but … Pakistan will need months to prepare for a ground offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border, a senior army commander said on Tuesday, citing equipment shortages. … “It’s going to take months,” and possibly beyond the coming winter, [Lt. Gen. Nadeem] Ahmed said, when […]
The Iraqi Endgame: A Podcast
So the other day I did a podcast interview with the International Relations and Security Network, based in Zurich. The very nice interviewer, Kaisa Schreck, asked some pointed questions and I hope I was able to draw upon my experience in Iraq to give some insightful answers. I’ll let you be the judge, however. You can listen to the […]
Baitullah Mehsud Rival Gunned Down
ISLAMABAD — Hoo, boy, talk about Propaganda of the Deed. Early this morning, Qar’i Zainuddin Mehsud, who just days ago spoke out publicly against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was shot dead by his own bodyguard. AfPax Insider had a scoop in wait, with a 14-minute interview with the old jihadist, who had decided that his […]
Bounty on Fazlullah increased to 50M Rupees
Well, looks like Maulana Fazlullah, commander of the Swat Taliban, is still alive and kicking, rumors to the contrary. The Pakistani government just upped the bounty on his head to 50 million rupees, or almost $620,000. Dawn reports that he has been in contact with his fighters. This could all be an IO on anyone’s […]
Pakistan's Civil War
It is now clear the ISI building in Lahore was the target of Tuesday’s deadly blast. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the blast yesterday that killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 200. “We have achieved our target. We were looking for this target for a long time. It was a reaction to the […]
Afghan Elections: What's Obama to Do?
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on September 7, 2009 at 1:58 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
Dexter Filkins and Carlotta Gall of the New York Times have a thoroughly dispiriting story today. KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans loyal to President Hamid Karzai set up hundreds of fictitious polling sites where no one voted but where hundreds of thousands of ballots were still recorded toward the president’s re-election, according to senior Western and Afghan […]
Filed under Afghanistan, Analysis, Commentary, Featured · Tagged with Afghanistan, Britain, Central Asia, Election, Obama, Pakistan, Taliban, Vietnam