Syrian president Ahmed al-Shara’s drive to centralize the country and marginalize minority communities shows no sign of abating. Seven months after seizing power, Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Shara, had successfully recast himself from a jihadist once subject to a $10 million US bounty into a pragmatic statesman and the nation’s best hope for reunification and […]
Ahmed Al-Shara: Syria’s Fragile Strongman Read More »
Cash-strapped Pakistan faces yet another financial setback as it must repay Saudi Arabia USD 3 billion within a year, with an additional four per cent interest per quarter. Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin informed the Senate on Friday, 11 February, deepening the already precarious state of Pakistan’s economy. In October 2021, Saudi Arabia had agreed to
Saudi Demand: Financial Woes Worsen for Pakistan Read More »
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog against money laundering and terrorist financing, is set to review Pakistan’s performance next month. Pakistan was placed on the Grey List in June 2018 under enhanced monitoring for its persistent failure to curb terrorist financing. Since then, its progress has been periodically reviewed, only to
Pakistan Resorts to Usual Tricks as it Fails to Comply with FATF Regulations Read More »
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog against terrorist financing and money laundering, reviewed Pakistan’s progress during its October 2021 plenary session and decided to retain the country on its Grey List. Pakistan at the time claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar was “untraceable” and a proclaimed offender, while making a
Will the ‘Grey List’ Turn ‘Black’ for Pakistan at the FATF’s February Plenary? Read More »
Everything Afghanistan achieved over the last two decades has crumbled within months of the Taliban’s return. Since mid-August 2021, the pace of collapse has been as breath-taking as the disintegration of the former Islamic Republic itself: in just four months, the country has spiralled into hunger, mass unemployment, economic breakdown, an exodus of educated professionals,
Unravelling of Afghanistan Read More »
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has emboldened radical and extremist forces across the border in Pakistan. With a porous frontier and long-standing ideological ties, fears are mounting that instability could spill over, weakening Islamabad’s fragile control and raising the unthinkable prospect of Taliban access to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Growing Global Alarm Pakistan is
International Community Worried Over Pakistani Nukes Falling Into Taliban Hands Read More »
The Taliban’s Pakistan-assisted military takeover of Afghanistan has triggered a severe refugee crisis, exposing fragile regional security dynamics and posing complex challenges for international policy. The crisis is not only humanitarian but also geopolitical, with neighbouring states closing their borders and signalling an unwillingness to assume the burden of displaced populations. Scale of Displacement The
Pakistan Triggers Serious Refugee Crisis Read More »
Women’s protests against the Taliban’s Islamist gender terror are fading. Since mid-September, demonstrations in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and other cities have all but disappeared. It is as if the Taliban never really left Afghan women alone during the last 20 years. Silencing Urban Voices Initially, women braved the streets to demand their right to work,
Return of Taliban’s Gender Terror Complete in Afghanistan Read More »
Have the Taliban truly “returned” after two decades? In terms of power, yes—but only by force. The reality is that they never left Afghanistan. For twenty years, despite US-NATO presence and a non-Taliban administration, the group regrouped, refined its strategies, embraced technology, and propagated its rigid interpretation of Islam, all with the steadfast support of
Prospects for Women in Afghanistan Read More »
The fall of the Ashraf Ghani government, collapsing like a house of cards, paved the way for the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan. With their return has come a new wave of rigid, orthodox rules—once again targeting women most severely. Reports of harassment and brutalities against women multiplied as the Taliban advanced across the country,
Afghan Women Challenge Taliban Read More »
The Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan last month, have rushed to form a ‘caretaker’ government. Three weeks after storming into Kabul, the movement has awarded the most important positions to religious hardliners and foot soldiers—choices facilitated by the careful midwifing of Pakistan. Pakistan’s Hand in the Power Balance Pakistan’s influence is unmistakable. Field commanders,
Hardliners Dominate in New Afghan Government Read More »
“Any state that fails to act to end Pakistan’s invasion & prevent further Taliban brutality are betraying the women & girls of Afghanistan & making a complete mockery of their commitment to women’s rights,” tweeted Christopher (Chris) Alexander, Canada’s first envoy to Kabul. His warning captures the growing sense of betrayal felt by Afghans—especially women—at
No Place for Women in Taliban’s Afghanistan Read More »
After twenty years of being wilfully misled by Pakistan, the Western world—led by the United States—still refuses to confront the reality that it has been deceived over Afghanistan. Even now, as the Taliban sweeps across the country, capturing nearly fourteen provincial capitals and forcing the surrender of the Kunduz-based Army Corps, Washington and its allies
Taliban: Pakistan’s First and Only Choice Read More »
The world has been left in shock and sorrow for the people of Afghanistan, who have once again fallen to the Taliban. A two-decade struggle for democracy and freedom has ended in humiliation for those who championed it. Human rights defenders, political leaders, and ordinary citizens fought valiantly against the Taliban’s resurgence, yet they were
Pakistan is to Blame for the Taliban’s Return Read More »
Blasphemy cases in Pakistan tell a disturbing story about human relationships, where individuals and communities often manipulate the country’s laws to settle personal disputes with members of minority groups. The blasphemy laws, which carry punishments as severe as life imprisonment or the death penalty, have become tools for arbitrary detention, intimidation, and violence. They have
Pakistan: Religious Minorities at Risk Read More »
When news broke of the death of Hamid Gul, former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Afghans celebrated in the streets. Gul had been instrumental in ensuring that no government in Kabul succeeded after the 1980s Afghan War and in nurturing the Taliban movement that plunged the country into perpetual conflict. Despite cultural and religious
Pakistan’s Support of the Taliban Enrages Kabul Read More »
A glaring loophole remains in Pakistan’s attempts to curb terrorist financing under international pressure, a gap that could place the country on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist. It is still unclear whether the omission in small savings schemes has been left deliberately to benefit terrorist groups—many of which enjoy state patronage—enabling them to
Gaping Hole in Pakistan’s FATF Compliance Read More »
Following the latest outbreak of clashes between Hamas—the Palestinian quasi-state terrorist organisation—and Israel, a ceasefire was agreed that few believe will endure. For Hamas, this truce is merely a tactical pause in its violent campaign against Israel. Israel, too, does not expect it to last—not out of unwillingness, but because it knows Hamas will inevitably
The Dangerous Game between Hamas and Pakistan Read More »
Pakistan’s image as a sponsor of terrorism returned to sharp focus when France solemnly recalled the killing of 11 French nationals in Karachi on 8 May 2002. These citizens, employed on a French-Pakistani submarine project, were murdered in a bombing carried out by terrorists linked to a nexus of Pakistani generals, politicians, and middlemen angered
Pakistan’s Terror Haunts France Read More »
Remaining on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for another year may be the least of Pakistan’s concerns. What poses a greater challenge is the FATF’s insistence that Pakistan investigate and prosecute leaders of UN-designated terrorist groups living on its soil—an expectation that directly clashes with Islamabad’s aspirations to shape the
Will Pakistan Act Against Terrorist Leaders? Read More »
For all Pakistan’s frenetic diplomatic efforts and loud expressions of outrage over the conflict between Hamas and Israel, the fragile ceasefire was secured not by Islamabad’s bluster but through Egypt’s quiet diplomacy and mediation. While Cairo played a constructive role behind the scenes, Pakistan indulged in diplomatic showmanship—indeed, one-upmanship—aimed largely at domestic audiences and imagined
Pakistan’s Paroxysm over Palestine Read More »
Pakistan’s abject failure to curb the extremist political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), from openly challenging state authority—terrorising citizens and unleashing a wave of violence and arson for over a week—ought to set alarm bells ringing in countries seeking friendship with Islamabad, not least Israel. For Israel, any attempt to establish diplomatic relations with a state
Israel Must Abandon Ties with Pakistan Read More »
International Women’s Day on 8 March serves as a reminder that women across the world continue to fight for basic rights and equality. In South Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh—once one nation until 1971—today stand at diametrically opposite ends regarding the status of women. Pakistan: Entrenched Discrimination and Resistance Denial of Basic Rights Women in Pakistan
Comparative Status of Women in Pakistan and Bangladesh Read More »
The American counter-terrorism establishment has been jolted by a sobering realisation: its most persistent terrorist threat is not foreign, but domestic. Contrary to conventional wisdom, “a large majority of jihadist terrorists in the United States have been American citizens or legal residents”. This conclusion comes from New America, a think tank providing one of the
The Autopsy of Jihadism in the United States Read More »
Repressive regimes frequently resort to violence, intimidation, and technology to silence dissent beyond their borders. A report published by Freedom House on 4 February 2021 noted that “transnational repression” has become increasingly common. It found that 31 states had physically attacked their citizens living abroad since 2014, while millions more have faced harassment, digital surveillance,
Pakistan’s Intimidation of Its Citizens Abroad Read More »
