Current Projects
Waiting for Release: Will Afghans cleared to leave Guantanamo get out before Trump gets in?
American president-elect Donald Trump has said that no more detainees should be transferred out of America’s war on terror detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. He takes office on 20 January 2017, which leaves the Obama administration just a few days to get men cleared for transfer out of Cuba. Among those waiting to see if their cases go through in time are three Afghans, money changer Wali Mohammed, chokidar Abdul Zahir and seller of plastic flowers Bostan Karim. All have been in detention since 2002 and, AAN’s Kate Clark reports, the cases against them were always among the flimsiest. When Obama came into office in 2009, he vowed to close Guantanamo down. Congress blocked this, stopping him from transferring detainees to the American mainland for trial or incarceration. His only success has been in reducing the population; it should be down from 242 in 2009 to, if all goes to plan, around 40 by 20 January 2017 when he leaves the White House. Anyone remaining after that, it would seem from Trump’s statements on Guantanamo, is likely to be there a very long time. During the election campaign, he praised the detention camp, saying he would like to bring more detainees there. (He also praised waterboarding, although he said it was not “tough enough” and even if it did not work, he would authorise it because “they deserve it anyway for what they do to us.”) Then, on 3 January 2017, Trump tweeted that no more detainees should be transferred; they were “extremely dangerous people,” he said and “should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.” Prisoners cleared for transfer In mid-December 2016, there were still 22 detainees who had been cleared for transfer by a body known as the Periodic Review Board – which can also order the continuing detention or military trial of detainees. The New York Times reported that the US government had found countries willing to take 17 or 18 of them: The effort was part of a burst of urgent, high-level diplomatic talks aimed at moving as...
Afghan Weekly (Jan 06 – Jan 12, 2017)
Speaking to Asharq al-Awsat, an Arab newspaper, on Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stressed on the need for Islamic countries to help bring peace in Afghanistan. "We hope that Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, exert pressure on extremist leaders to push them toward reconciliation," he stated while describing Saudi-Afghan relations as strong and essential. He advocated that it was important for Taliban to separate itself from terrorist groups that pose a threat to Islamic nations. Afghans across the board long for peace, Ghani added, and that the Islamic countries should leverage their influence to push extremist leaders towards reconciliation. Commenting on Pakistan, Ghani said that Pakistan’s best interest lies with the Afghan government.[1] Earlier on Monday, General John W Nicholson, Commander Resolute Support Mission and US Forces, in Afghanistan travelled to Pakistan’s North Waziristan border region that until recently was dubbed as an ‘epicenter of global terrorism’. The Pakistan military said that local commanders briefed General John Nicholson on counterterrorism operations and post-conflict social development underway in the area near the Afghan border.[2] On the occasion, Pakistan’s Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa stressed the necessity for setting a "bilateral border security mechanism" between Pakistan and Afghanistan and called for the NATO mission to play its significant role in making it possible. The visiting dignitary recognized the inevitability of bilateral border security coordination.[3] Meanwhile, the Afghan Government signed an $11.4 million contract with a Turkish company on January 07 to build a prefabricated housing factory in the country and, another contract with a Chinese construction firm to build an important road in central Afghanistan – called the Dare-e-Sof and Yakawlang Road project.[4] Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah also headed a high-ranking delegation on visit to Tehran on January 11 to confer with...
Dangerous Nexus
In a latest attack against ethnic minorities, some armed men killed nine Shia Hazara miners in the northern Baghlan province of Afghanistan last Friday. The government blamed the militant Islamic State group for the brazen attack on the coalminers in the Tala Wa Barfak district of central Baghlan province. The incident forced around 2000 Shias to stage a protest in western Afghanistan against the growing sectarian attacks by the group for better protection by the government. The militant Islamic State (IS), better known as Daesh, has been making steady inroads into the country, raising the spectre of sectarian discord in the region. Afghanistan saw a wave of such attacks on the Shia community last year, almost all claimed by the IS. In October 2016, some 14 Shias were killed in a powerful blast at a mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif hours after gunmen targeted Shia worshipers in a shrine in Kabul, killing 18 people. Barely a few days into the new year, in a similar move, five members of the Shia Hazara community were injured when gunmen riding two motorbikes sprayed a vehicle near the Killi Mubarak area on Spiny road in Quetta, Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Jhangvie Al Alami was quick to claim the responsibility for the attack. This is not the first such incident. The province has seen a wave of sectarian attacks in the past, most of them claimed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Until a few months ago, the Islamic State was largely confined to the eastern Nangrahar province of Afghanistan that borders Pakistan’s troubled tribal belt. But, of late, the notorious militant organisation has steadily been expanding its operations into other parts of the country. On the Pakistani side of the border, sectarian militant groups has reportedly been expanding its activities across the country. Last week, police sub inspector Iqbal Mehmood was gunned down in Gulshan-e-Johar in Karachi. This was followed by two more consecutive hand grenade attacks that injured constable Muhammad...
Security of Pakistan, Afghanistan, India interlinked: US
The security of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan is interconnected and it will be better for these countries to cooperate with each other in countering terrorism, a US State Department spokesman said. Responding to a question at a briefing at the State Department, Mark Toner said, “Afghanistan’s, security Pakistan’s security and indeed India’s security, they’re all interconnected. And so as much as they can work in tandem or work in a partnership on counterterrorism operations I think it’s for the betterment of the region.” Responding to a question, the spokesman observed that denying safe havens to terrorists had been part of discussion with Pakistan and acknowledged that there had been progress. “We’ve seen them (Pakistan) take some steps to address these safe havens,” he said but maintained that the problem persisted and there was something which was part of ongoing conversation and dialogue between Pakistan and the United States. He, however, acknowledged the difficulties going after the safe havens in the border region with Afghanistan given the remote areas that terrorists were hiding in. The spokesman strongly condemned the Monday’s terrorist attack on the parliamentary buildings in Kabul that killed 38 Afghans and wounded more than 70 people. “The United States stands strongly with the people of Afghanistan and remains firmly committed to building a secure peaceful and prosperous future for Afghanistan,” he added. Replying to another question, he said “There has been a consistent trend of these kinds of senseless acts of violence on the part of the Taliban who have claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul.” He said that the United States did not want to see Afghanistan slide back into what it was. Toner said the US was trying to build the capacity of the Afghan security forces to determine and to provide for the security of the Afghan people. “We’ve also worked hard to foster an Afghan-led peace process which again ultimately is we believe the way...
Russia Returns to Afghanistan
Russia is a great power that retains muscle memory (and a strategic arsenal) from its past superpowerdom. In the Ukraine and Syria, Russia has challenged the United States—its former peer and a hesitant hegemon in decline—through direct military interventions. Additionally, Moscow has impressively deployed hybrid warfare tactics to create the perception that it has influenced the U.S. presidential election and forged a rift between the incoming commander-in-chief and elements of the U.S. intelligence community. Surprisingly, Afghanistan is emerging as another arena in which Moscow is pointedly working at odds with Washington’s interests. Indeed, recent moves by Russia now represent a pivot toward Afghanistan, posing a set of challenges that have been unanticipated by U.S. observers of the region. The incoming Trump Administration ought to be aware of Russia’s newfound assertiveness vis-à-vis Afghanistan, both in the threats it poses as well as the potential opportunities it may present. A Russian About-Face in Afghanistan In late December, Moscow hosted a trilateral dialogue with Beijing and Islamabad on the future of Afghanistan. Importantly, left out of the talks were Kabul, Washington and New Delhi—a historic Russian ally now moving closer to the United States. The joint statement released after the dialogue expressed support for talks with the Afghan Taliban and concern over the spread of Islamic State. The Russo-Sino-Pak trilateral did not emerge out of thin air. It is the latest in a series of Russian efforts to engage both Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban. Together, these moves mark a definitive departure from Moscow’s decades-old policy toward the region. Pakistan was a strong U.S. ally during most of the Cold War, while the Soviet Union had a defense pact with the nominally non-aligned India. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan, in concert with the United States, helped make Afghanistan a graveyard for the Red Army, forcing its withdrawal....
May the Force be With You
KP’s police have geared up to fight terror and crime after Zarb-e-Azb Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has seen a remarkable turnaround in the fight against terrorist and extremist groups in the last couple of years. This province’s geographical location has indeed been a complicating factor ever since the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan and the US-led west responded to that occupation via Pakistan. In addition to having a 1,350 km border with Afghanistan, KP province is surrounded by tribal regions known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Provincially Administered Tribal Areas and the Frontier Regions. All of them are governed by a special set of laws. This unusual geographical proximity to the once virtual “no-go areas” and the Pakistani rulers’ thoughtless use of these regions for anti-Soviet jihad has generated numerous socio-political and economic challenges which gradually eroded the quality and authority of policing in the province. But in this sea of turmoil, and on the back of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, some positives are emerging. Once promised operational autonomy, provincial police chief Nasir Khan Durrani has gone about reforming the force in a professional way. That has also helped align it with the counter-terrorism objectives of Zarb-e-Azb as well as prepare the police to face the consequences of these operations. One of the major ones was the flight of the top leadership of militants and terrorists to Afghanistan and that of their operators to KP’s urban areas. Had they not been busted, arrested or killed, they would have wreaked havoc. It required a special professional response and this is what we have tried to do in the last three years or so, Durrani told TFT. The KP police in fact found itself facing an unprecedented threat since they had been trained only to deal with common criminals. Now they find themselves confronted with a deadly mix of criminal syndicates and trans-border terrorists The KP police in fact found itself...
Sabawoon Showcase: Women’s Empowerment and Role in Society
January 11, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[i], a flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), focused on women’s empowerment and role in society. The key discussion points included women’s rights, their contribution to Pakistan’s economic development, social and cultural barriers faced by women, role of women in police and their trainings, and the importance of family support in the grooming of a female as a social asset. The program was aired under the theme of Jwandai Jazbey (living spirits) on Wednesday. Ms. Asmat Arra, Sub Divisional Police Officer Traffic, Peshawar, was the show guest. A radio report was made part of the program. It shared the experiences of a female driver, Ms. Huma Bibi, and owner of a female driving training school, Ms. Nilofer Sami, as a case study. Four callers participated live in the show. They underlined the significance of female education and urged the government to take more proactive measures for facilitating women’s education in rural areas. Ms. Arra said: “If women want to contribute to the development of the country, they should set objectives in life, be more confident and overcome the societal barriers.” Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [i] Sabawoon is a flagship radio program by CRSS in the KP/FATA region, designed to highlight local issues, and promote fundamental global values such as women’s rights, rule of law, equal citizenry, democracy, governance and accountability. It airs four times a week, under four themes. On Monday, Jarga Marrakka covers current affairs and issues, coupled with government and other senior officials. On Tuesday, Da Semi Jaaj gives a holistic regional overview of the most important stories across the length and breadth of KP/FATA. On Wednesday, Jwandai Jazbey covers issues most important to youth, students and females. Finally, on Thursday, Ranra covers social issues that...
Cure or curse: Our perpetual dependence on the IMF
The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme for Pakistan concluded in September 2016. It was deemed a success: the country’s economy is doing reasonably well after three years under it. The state of the economy, however, may not have much to do with the programme. There is, in fact, a strong expectation that Pakistan may again seek help from the IMF if its finances become insufficient to meet its external trade and debt repayment needs. Our relationship with the Fund (that is, dependency) can be better understood by looking at our past. The IMF is generally approached for help when a country faces a balance of payments problem. Although this remains the main reason for Pakistan requesting money from the Fund, the IMF programmes in Pakistan (and in other countries) since the 1990s have focused more on introducing comprehensive changes in the structure of the economy than just providing support for hard currency needs. There is, in fact, a strong expectation that Pakistan may again seek help from the IMF if its finances become insufficient. Since December 1988, Pakistan has had nine separate engagements with the IMF — three of them were double programmes. That means there have been 12 IMF programmes in Pakistan in the last 28 years. Only four of them – all initiated in the 2000s and 2010s – were completed successfully; all the rest were abandoned halfway in the 1990s. The turning point came in 2000 when Pakistan was facing the possibility of defaulting on its foreign debts by the end of the year. One should recall that Pakistan had fallen out of favour with the West in May 1998 (when it conducted nuclear tests) and subsequently in 1999 (due to Pervez Musharraf’s military coup). Seeking help from the IMF was the only option available to Islamabad in those circumstances. This constraint put the government in a situation where it had to accept and abide by the terms and conditions attached to the loan agreement with the IMF (signed in November 2000 and...
World powers jostle in Afghanistan's new 'Great Game'
Afghanistan's strategic landscape is changing as regional powers forge links with the Taliban and vie to outdo each other in what's being seen as a new "Great Game". Fifteen years after the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, competition for influence - reminiscent of that rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, and that during the Cold War in the 1980s - is intensifying, complicating an already precarious security situation. Suspicion and mistrust remain the biggest obstacle to stability in strategically-located Afghanistan, which has the potential to destabilise the wider region. Pakistan, considered the main supporter of the Afghan Taliban, has been accused of playing a double game. But Afghan and Western officials as well as Taliban sources have also spoken about the Taliban's clandestine links with Iran for the past few years. And recently it emerged that Russia's ties with the Taliban were warming too. In December the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Nicholson, criticised Russia and Iran for establishing links with the militants, which both countries have confirmed. The US has also pursued contacts with the Taliban in recent years but those efforts have not brought peace. Several regional powers, most notably Russia and Iran, criticise the US and its allies for "failing" in achieving its original objectives of eliminating violent extremism and drugs in Afghanistan. Three major factors have contributed to the shifting of regional alliances: the emergence of so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan; changes in the approach of the new Afghan government; and tensions between the US and regional players such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan. Fears over Islamic State The emergence of IS in Afghanistan - the group announced the creation of its Khorasan Province branch in January 2015 - provided Russia and Iran with the opportunity to make "contacts" with the Taliban. The US's decreasing military role in...
World powers jostle in Afghanistan’s new ‘Great Game’
Afghanistan's strategic landscape is changing as regional powers forge links with the Taliban and vie to outdo each other in what's being seen as a new "Great Game". Fifteen years after the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, competition for influence - reminiscent of that rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, and that during the Cold War in the 1980s - is intensifying, complicating an already precarious security situation. Suspicion and mistrust remain the biggest obstacle to stability in strategically-located Afghanistan, which has the potential to destabilise the wider region. Pakistan, considered the main supporter of the Afghan Taliban, has been accused of playing a double game. But Afghan and Western officials as well as Taliban sources have also spoken about the Taliban's clandestine links with Iran for the past few years. And recently it emerged that Russia's ties with the Taliban were warming too. In December the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Nicholson, criticised Russia and Iran for establishing links with the militants, which both countries have confirmed. The US has also pursued contacts with the Taliban in recent years but those efforts have not brought peace. Several regional powers, most notably Russia and Iran, criticise the US and its allies for "failing" in achieving its original objectives of eliminating violent extremism and drugs in Afghanistan. Three major factors have contributed to the shifting of regional alliances: the emergence of so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan; changes in the approach of the new Afghan government; and tensions between the US and regional players such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan. Fears over Islamic State The emergence of IS in Afghanistan - the group announced the creation of its Khorasan Province branch in January 2015 - provided Russia and Iran with the opportunity to make "contacts" with the Taliban. The US's decreasing military role in...
TOP STORIES
TESTIMONIALS
“
I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.