Taliban Commander Killed in South Waziristan
23 December 2010
Taliban Commander Killed in Pakistan, The Telegraph, 23 December 2010
EXCERPT: "'Asmatullah Bhetani was killed in a gunfight with security forces in South Waziristan on the night between December 7 and 8,' a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another official confirmed Bhetani's death, saying there had been a reward of 10 million rupees (?78,000) for his arrest. He died in Sararogha, a militant stronghold...
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Pakistan's Criminal Justice System Key to Solving Terrorism: ICG
23 December 2010
Pakistan: The Hidden War, International Crisis Group, 23 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Since 9/11, the United States and its international partners have attempted unsuccessfully to persuade and pressure Pakistan's military to act decisively against homegrown and foreign terrorists. Ten years later, the result is that terrorist rot has spread in Pakistan, with civilian casualties outpacing those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Terrorists using...
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ISI Head Will Not Appear in US Court over Mumbai Attacks: Gilani
23 December 2010
, The New York Times, 23 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan said Thursday there was no possibility that the head of the country's powerful spy organization, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, would obey a summons requesting his appearance before a court in the United States over the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Mr. Gilani made the announcement...
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Forecast 2011: Pakistan as a Conflict Hotspot
23 December 2010
Forecast 2011: Conflict Hotposts; Watershed Year for Pakistan, International Relations and Security Network, 23 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistan should be expected to enter a watershed period of transformation in 2011, with this dynamic having significant ramifications for the coalition's conflict against the Taliban, as well as for the strategic balance between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India. In essence, Pakistan will be...
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Pakistan Drone Strikes: the CIA's Secret War
22 December 2010
Pakistan Drone Strikes: the CIA's Secret War, Channel 4 News, 22 December 2010
EXCERPT: "In the last 12 months there have been at least 113 attacks by secret US drones in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan region. It is double the number of strikes in 2009, which itself saw a dramatic spike, bringing the total number of attacks under President Obama to an estimated figure of 166. That marks an increase of nearly 300 per cent compared...
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US Review Casts Blame on Pakistan: Pakistani Official
22 December 2010
, Time, 22 December 2010
EXCERPT: "For Pakistanis, the phrasing may have been delicate but the message of the Obama Administration's Afghanistan-Pakistan review was clear: Washington is not satisfied with Pakistan's efforts against al-Qaeda militants hiding in the Tribal Areas, or its failure to deny the Afghan insurgency sanctuaries on its side of the border. The five-page summary of the...
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Journalists Working in Conflict Areas Need Better Protection: UNESCO
22 December 2010
Journalists working in conflict areas need better protection, UN agency stresses, UN News Centre, 22 December 2010
EXCERPT: "The United Nations agency mandated to defend freedom of expression and press freedom today called for improved safety for journalists and other media professionals working in areas of conflict or social unrest so they can carry out their duties. The call follows the publication last week of year-end analysis...
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Two Police Officers Arrested in Bhutto Case
22 December 2010
, AFP, 22 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistani police on Wednesday arrested two senior police officers for alleged dereliction of duty over the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a prosecutor said. Bhutto was assassinated almost exactly three years ago in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election campaign rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the...
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Taliban Commander Allegedly Killed in Khyber Drone Strike
21 December 2010
Al Qaeda-Linked Taliban Leader Reported Killed in Khyber Predator Strike [blog], The Long War Journal, 20 December 2010
EXCERPT: "A Taliban leader who commanded one of al Qaeda's military units in northwestern Pakistan is reported to have been killed by US Predators in the Dec. 17 airstrike in the Khyber tribal agency. Ibn Amin, the commander of the Tora Bora Brigade, one of six formations in al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil or Shadow...
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Pakistan Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile
21 December 2010
, AFP, 21 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads, the military said. The military said in a statement that Ghauri Hatf 5, with a range of 1,300 kilometres (800 miles), could carry conventional and other warheads. The launch was conducted by the Army Strategic Force command's strategic...
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