Pakistan's Taliban Offer Prisoner Swap
22 June 2010
, AFP, 22 June 2010
EXCERPT: "Taliban militants in Pakistan's northwest Tuesday offered the government a prisoner swap in return for 33 missing soldiers, threatening to kill the men if the proposal is rebuffed. A Taliban spokesman told AFP that Pakistani authorities should 'face the consequences' if they did not agree to the swap, calling for the details to be worked out in talks...
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"German Militant" Arrested Near Afghan Border
22 June 2010
Taliban Claim a German Arrested in Pakistan Was Their "Comrade", Deutsche Welle, 22 June 2010
EXCERPT: "A German citizen arrested near a militant stronghold in Pakistan appears to be affiliated to terrorism. A Taliban spokesman called him 'our comrade', and local security officials say he was linked to al Qaeda. Intelligence officials in Pakistan said on Tuesday that a German man they arrested was associated with the...
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Karachi Taliban Groups Fracturing, Forging New Networks
22 June 2010
Karachi Faces Growing Taliban Menace, BBC News, 22 June 2010
EXCERPT: "Police in Pakistan's largest city, the port of Karachi, say the Taliban are increasing in numbers and appointing new leaders. The sprawling southern city, with its population of about 18 million, is an ideal place for militants to get lost in the crowd. "The Taliban are clever enough to keep a low profile, but their presence is growing," said a local...
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"Winning Back Hearts and Minds" Key to Punjab: Expert
22 June 2010
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Gaining a Grip, Chatham House // The World Today, July 2010
EXCERPT: "In the first two weeks of June, a jirga or consultative gathering, in Afghanistan produced a road-map providing a possible way forward in Afghanistan: the new British government made the broadest hints yet that it is planning to withdraw its troops and militants in Pakistan destroyed a convoy of trucks containing supplies for NATO troops there....
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Pakistan Ranks 10th among "Failed States"
22 June 2010
Pakistan Ranks 10th among "Failed States", DAWN, 22 June 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistan was ranked the 10th most failed state in the world, just three places below Afghanistan, in a US survey released on Monday. Somalia tops the 2010 Failed States Index followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad. The index issued by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, a Washington-NGO, ranks India 87th in a list of 177 countries. [...] The...
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