America Can’t Isolate the Taliban - Foreign Affairs
At a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in late January, Chinese President Xi Jinping accepted the credentials of the Taliban’s newly appointed Afghan ambassador to China.
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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.
Pakistan’s surprising election results, explained - Vox
Pakistan’s parliamentary elections ended in a surprise upset, one that could make the transition to the next government a chaotic affair and that could leave the winning politicians without real...
Everything is chaotic about Pakistan’s election — except the outcome - Vox
Pakistan’s elections have already been eventful — with one party leader’s arrest, another’s stunning return from exile, and at least nine deaths on Election Day — but how much of a change they will truly bring about remains to be seen. Pakistan has been in political, economic, and security turmoil for ...
Pakistan goes to the polls this week. Here’s what to watch. - Good Authority
Pakistan is set to vote on Feb. 8, 2024. These elections take place in the context of numerous military, intelligence, and law enforcement actions seemingly designed to weaken the ability of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) to compete (see recent New York Times, Guardian, and Al Jazeera reports ...
In No Position to Fight a War, Pakistan Seeks an Off-Ramp With Iran - New York Times
When Iran and Pakistan traded airstrikes this week, both targeting what they said were militant camps, the exchange raised fears that the upheaval sweeping the Middle East was moving into new territory. To Pakistan, which was hit first, it was important to send a clear message that violations of its sovereignty would not be tolerated. But the Pakistani military quickly followed its retaliatory action with another message — one that showed its desire to contain the tensions, a wish driven in no small part by the...
Pakistan fires retaliatory strike at Iran, stoking regional tension - Reuters
Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory. Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children. The tit-for-tat strikes are the...
Attack on Pakistani Security Post Near Afghanistan Kills 23 Soldiers - New York Times
Twenty-three soldiers were killed in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday when heavily armed militants attacked a security post in one of the deadliest assaults on the country’s security forces in recent years, officials said. The pre-dawn raid occurred on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan and has been plagued by...
Afghan Insurgent Groups Step Up Attacks, Political Campaign Against Taliban - Voice of America
Two Afghan insurgent groups, made up mainly of former government and military officials, claim to have killed at least 50 Taliban officials and soldiers during November. The hit-and-run insurgency has been most active in the north and northeast of the country where the Taliban encountered significant resistance during their previous...
'Collision Course': Will The Afghan Taliban Choose Pakistan Or The Pakistani Taliban? - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Pakistan has issued an ultimatum to the Afghan Taliban: Expel the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group from Afghanistan or face the consequences. Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, repeated the warning on November 11, saying that the Afghan extremist group must “choose Pakistan or the TTP.” The Afghan Taliban denies sheltering the TTP, with which it has close ideological and...
Taliban success emboldens Pakistani militants, and deadly attacks surge - Washington Post
The attackers descended in the early morning from the steep mountains that tower over Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Gunfire echoed in the valleys as Pakistani Taliban fighters stormed Pakistani military posts. By the time the fighting stopped hours later, four soldiers and 12 militants were dead. The Sept. 6 attack, described by officials in Pakistan as a cross-border assault from Afghanistan, stunned a Pakistani leadership that had thought...