Military Operations Trigger Taliban Reprisal Attacks in Mohmand: Analysis
28 February 2011
"The ongoing anti-Taliban offensive in Pakistan’s Mohmand Agency has triggered a humanitarian emergency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) as well as the prompting of Taliban militants to carry out revenge attacks against security forces beyond the zone of operations. Thousands of civilians have fled the region since late January as search and sweep operations continue, accompanied by heavy aerial bombing, artillery fire and...
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ISI Demands Data on CIA Contractors in Pakistan
28 February 2011
"Pakistan’s chief spy agency has demanded an accounting by the Central Intelligence Agency of all its contractors working in Pakistan, a fallout from the arrest last month of an American involved in surveillance of militant groups, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. Angered that the American, Raymond A. Davis, worked as a contractor in Pakistan on covert C.I.A. operations without the knowledge of the Pakistanis, the spy agency...
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Sectarian Conflict and Conflict Transformation in Pakistan: Report
28 February 2011
"This study is about Shia-Sunni conflict and the postconflict restoration of peace in Pakistan. It sets case studies of two 'contested cities' - Jhang and Gilgit - within a wider national and international framework, examining the historical roots of sectarian conflict, the trajectory and nature of the violence, and the restoration of a relative calm. It draws on existing analyses of sectarian conflict in Pakistan and case studies of the two cities...
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Balochistan Lawyers Strike over "Kidnappings"
28 February 2011
"Lawyers across the Pakistani province of Balochistan are on strike to pressure the authorities to take action over a series of alleged abductions. Two judges went missing in eastern Balochistan on Saturday night, local officials in Naseerabad district say. Last week two lawyers from the regional capital disappeared in the area. Two others have been missing for months. Lawyers say the men were kidnapped. It is not known who is responsible but kidnaps...
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ISI in Public Battle with Government over Davis Case
25 February 2011
"Pakistan's spy agency blamed the civilian government for allowing U.S. intelligence operatives to enter the country secretly, sparking an internal feud over a shooting by a detained Central Intelligence Agency contractor, and complicating U.S. policy in the region. [...] The U.S. says Mr. Davis fired in self-defense as the men attempted to rob him. But Pakistan has pushed ahead with his criminal trial on murder charges, which began Friday behind...
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Kashmir Independence Fighters "Quashed" by ISI
25 February 2011
"In the quagmire of Kashmir militancy, those who took up arms for independence appear to have been quashed. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan investigates the fate of the Kashmiri fighters who did not want to be ruled by India or Pakistan. Ismat Karim gives a harrowing account of a recent 20-day detention in what he calls a 'torture cell'. Mr Karim says he was held along with two other residents of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and describes how they were 'punished...
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The Flow of Funds for Militants: Analysis
25 February 2011
"Pakistan is yet to develop a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy. This would entail focus on better coordination among intelligence agencies, capacity-building of law-enforcement agencies, adequate measures to prevent banned militant groups from operating across the country and, most importantly, curbs on militants financing. The militant landscape of Pakistan is a complex one, with numerous groups with different backgrounds pursuing multiple...
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4 Killed in Attack on NATO Tankers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
25 February 2011
"Militants in northwest Pakistan blew up at least 11 tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan Friday and shot dead four people, police said. The rebels struck at a terminal on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar, which runs into Pakistan's lawless tribal belt. 'More than two dozen militants entered the terminal and planted timed devices on 12 out of a total 18 fuel tankers parked at the terminal,' senior police official...
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IDPs in Mohmand Agency Hit by Border Closure: IRIN
25 February 2011
EXCERPT: "Thousands of people displaced from their homes by fighting between Pakistani government forces and militants in Mohmand Agency, northwestern Pakistan, face sub-zero temperatures and have been blocked from leaving the agency to seek refuge with relatives. 'We are cold all the time,' Mehrunissa Bibi, 35, a mother of three, told IRIN by phone from the Danish Kol camp. 'Night time temperatures here are at freezing point, and though...
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US "Could Move" the ICJ over Davis Case
24 February 2011
EXCERPT: "US officials have indirectly warned that their country could approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ), if the spat over their ‘consular employee’ Raymond Davis, is not resolved in accordance with the Vienna Convention. In a related development, Western newspapers have revealed that they knew that Davis, who is facing double murder charges, was employed by the American spy agency, the Central Intelligence Agency,...
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