Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
Umar, a high school student, vanished from his home in northwestern Pakistan last month. Weeks later, he sent a brief message on WhatsApp to his family members from neighboring Afghanistan. “I’ve joined the TTP. This is a final goodbye,” wrote the 17-year-old, according to his father. Umar, whose family...
Amid an upsurge in terrorist attacks, the country’s civil and military leadership is undertaking a major policy review in order to stem the tide of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), officials familiar with the development told The Express Tribune. The rise in the TTP-sponsored attacks has pushed the authorities concerned to revisit the strategy pursued by the previous government.Official sources say closed door discussions are ongoing and major decisions are expected in the next couple of weeks...
In Pakistan’s mountainous tribal regions, tens of thousands of people are protesting against the government’s failure to keep them safe from attacks by resurgent terrorists. Ten years after gunmen boarded a school bus and shot a teenager in the face to silence her campaign for girls’ education, people fear Taliban extremists are bringing death and misery back to their valleys...
he armed group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has announced the end of an indefinite ceasefire agreed with the government in June and issued orders to its fighters to carry out attacks across the country. “As military operations are...
Pakistan on Thursday announced the rise of a new army chief, a changing of the guard that many consider as crucial to Pakistani affairs as civilian political cycles and that comes at a moment of fierce debate over the military’s power in politics. After weeks of intense speculation and...
Two days after external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that counter-terror as an explanation to provide a F-16 package to Pakistan did not fool anyone, United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Pakistan faced real terror threats and that the package would add to Pakistani capabilities. But he also clarified...
The strike last month on al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri showed at first glance that U.S. forces can still carry out military and intelligence missions in Afghanistan without American boots on the ground. Beneath the surface, however, the bombing of al-Zawahri’s safe house in Kabul exposed much deeper, long-term problems for the U.S...
The weight of Perry Blackburn's reality is most apparent when his voice cracks and as he rubs his eyes from exhaustion. It's not uncommon for both to happen when the former Green Beret is talking about Afghanistan or its people. "I feel like our government betrayed us," the Tampa, Florida, resident told...
Many Afghans say their cities and villages feel safer under the Taliban. Now in power, the assaults that the Taliban once waged are no more. But a wave of targeted attacks by ISIS is undermining that security, especially among minority groups. NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports from Kabul. It's just before the start of...
As legal cases mount against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, his supporters have expressed anger over the government’s actions. Khan, 69, came under pressure last week after he was booked under anti-terrorism laws for “threatening” senior police officials and a...