Current Projects

Sabawoon Showcase: Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Reforms and their Impacts

December 19, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon[1], flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), was about FATA reforms and their impacts. The key discussion points included FATA reforms bill, merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), issues faced by residents due to Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), extension of the constitution of Pakistan to FATA, resource mobilization, transparency in the usage of funds by the Political Administration and the role of FATA parliamentarians in the region’s transformation. The program was aired under the theme of Jarga Marrakka (debate and council) on Thursday. Mr. Rehmat Salam Khattak, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Parliamentarian from Peshawar, and Mr. Iqbal Afridi, a political activist from Khyber Agency, were the studio guests. A radio report on the central theme of the program was aired. The report shared the views of people favoring the merger of FATA with KP, concerns of residents against FCR and misuse of resources in the region. Two callers took part live in the program. They urged the government to hold a referendum over the issue of FATA’s merger with the KP and let the tribal people enjoy their basic rights. Mr. Rehmat Salam Khattak, PMLN Parliamentarian Peshawar, said: “FATA reforms bill has been passed by the National Assembly and it awaits the approval by Senate. This will help administer FATA and enhance peace and prosperity in the region.” Mr. Iqbal Afridi, political activist, Khyber Agency, said: “The people of FATA have been ignored for decades as they don’t enjoy any constitutional rights. FATA should also be brought within the purview of the constitution of the country.” Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [1] 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,...

The Situation in Afghanistan and its Implications for International Peace and Security – Report of The Secretary-General (A/71/682–S/2016/1049)

Introduction The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/11 and Security Council resolution 2274 (2016), in which I was requested to report every three months on developments in Afghanistan. The report provides an update on the activities of the United Nations in Afghanistan, including significant humanitarian, development and human rights efforts, since the issuance of my previous report (A/71/616-S/2016/768). It also provides a summary of key political and security developments and regional and international events relating to Afghanistan. Relevant developments The President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, and the Chief Executive, Abdullah Abdullah, presented the Afghan National Peace and Development Framework at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, held on 5 October, in which international partners confirmed their intention to provide $15.2 billion in support of the country’s development priorities until 2020. Ongoing tensions in the executive branch and the vote to dismiss several Cabinet ministers by the lower house of the National Assembly contributed to political volatility. This occurred against a backdrop of intensifying armed clashes between security forces and the Taliban. The names of commissioners for the electoral management bodies that are to pursue electoral reforms and prepare for elections were announced. The Government also advanced its anti-corruption agenda. A peace agreement was signed by the Government with Hizb-i Islami (Gulbuddin), but prospects for talks with the Taliban have not improved. Increasing levels of violence resulted in high civilian casualties, including a disturbing number of child casualties, and significant new displacements. The rate of return of Afghan refugees and undocumented Afghans from Pakistan increased rapidly, further exacerbating the fragile humanitarian situation. See full report here. This article originally appeared on www.reliefweb.int ,17 December, 2016. Original link....

DEA: Heroin Haul Largest Ever in Afghanistan, 'if Not the World'

A joint U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, American Special Forces and Afghan counternarcotics operation in October resulted in an eye-popping seizure of 20 tons of drugs, which officials said was the "largest known seizure of heroin in Afghanistan, if not the world." The operation was kept under wraps until today, when a DEA official confirmed the contents of a field intelligence report obtained by ABC News but did not explain why a successful "superlab" takedown — which agency veterans agreed is an unprecedented narcotics haul — was not officially announced. "This drug seizure alone prevented not only a massive amount of heroin hitting the streets throughout the world but also denied the Taliban money that would have been used to fund insurgent activities in and around the region," DEA spokesman Steven Bell told ABC News yesterday. He said a conservative estimated street value was about $60 million for the 12.5 tons of morphine base, 6.4 tons of heroin base, 134 kilograms of opium, 129 kilograms of crystal heroin and 12 kilograms of hashish seized in the Oct. 17 raid, which took place in the western Afghan province of Farah, on the border with Iran. "If that was Pablo Escobar's stash, that would be considered a lot of frickin' heroin," said one combat veteran of the DEA's 11-year counternarcotics mission to blunt the country's heroin trade, referring to the Medellin, Colombia, narcotics kingpin killed two decades ago. "That's going to make a dent in the European market." The operation's success is all the more extraordinary, given that the footprint of the U.S. military in Afghanistan is now below 10,000 service members and the DEA's numbers have diminished to a handful in-country, sources said. This downsizing has eliminated the DEA's Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Teams (FAST) in Afghanistan, which target drug A Green Beret A-team aided the agents in executing a warrant search in the western Afghanistan province. After a brief gunfight with insurgents...

DEA: Heroin Haul Largest Ever in Afghanistan, ‘if Not the World’

A joint U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, American Special Forces and Afghan counternarcotics operation in October resulted in an eye-popping seizure of 20 tons of drugs, which officials said was the "largest known seizure of heroin in Afghanistan, if not the world." The operation was kept under wraps until today, when a DEA official confirmed the contents of a field intelligence report obtained by ABC News but did not explain why a successful "superlab" takedown — which agency veterans agreed is an unprecedented narcotics haul — was not officially announced. "This drug seizure alone prevented not only a massive amount of heroin hitting the streets throughout the world but also denied the Taliban money that would have been used to fund insurgent activities in and around the region," DEA spokesman Steven Bell told ABC News yesterday. He said a conservative estimated street value was about $60 million for the 12.5 tons of morphine base, 6.4 tons of heroin base, 134 kilograms of opium, 129 kilograms of crystal heroin and 12 kilograms of hashish seized in the Oct. 17 raid, which took place in the western Afghan province of Farah, on the border with Iran. "If that was Pablo Escobar's stash, that would be considered a lot of frickin' heroin," said one combat veteran of the DEA's 11-year counternarcotics mission to blunt the country's heroin trade, referring to the Medellin, Colombia, narcotics kingpin killed two decades ago. "That's going to make a dent in the European market." The operation's success is all the more extraordinary, given that the footprint of the U.S. military in Afghanistan is now below 10,000 service members and the DEA's numbers have diminished to a handful in-country, sources said. This downsizing has eliminated the DEA's Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Teams (FAST) in Afghanistan, which target drug A Green Beret A-team aided the agents in executing a warrant search in the western Afghanistan province. After a brief gunfight with insurgents...

New Narrative on Afghanistan

Despite the negative consequences of the serious policy blunders committed by the US in Afghanistan over the past decade and a half, it refuses to draw the right lessons from its unhappy experience. Instead, it has persisted in pursuing its flawed Afghanistan policy with over-emphasis on a military rather than a political solution. In the process, most of the Pashtuns, who constitute almost half of the Afghan population, have been alienated thereby fuelling the Taliban insurgency in the aftermath of 9/11. Objectively speaking, the root cause of the continuing armed conflict lies in the internal conflict between the Pashtuns and the non-Pashtuns in Afghanistan aggravated by foreign occupation. Unfortunately, Pakistan so far has failed to put across to the international community its assessment of the Afghanistan situation in proper perspective. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, which had been organised by Al Qaeda, generated international sympathy for the US and created a favourable climate for the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban government even though it had no direct link with the terrorist attacks. The Taliban government, however, was accused of providing sanctuary to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. According to many Western scholars, the US invasion of Afghanistan, besides lacking the forthright prior sanction of the UN Security Council, amounted to an over-reaction to the tragic terrorist attacks of 9/11. But that was in 2001 when the US, which was virtually ruled by the neo-cons at the time under President Bush, felt strong enough to ride roughshod over legal niceties and launch invasions against foreign countries in pursuit of its strategic agenda. If there was any doubt about the US intentions, it was removed by the totally illegal and unjustified US invasion of Iraq in 2003 in violation of its obligations under the UN Charter. The two invasions have cost the US more than three trillion dollars and the lives of thousands of its own soldiers,...

Russia Throws Its Weight Behind China-Pakistan Corridor, Keeps India on Tenterhooks

Russia's nebulous public position on its growing ties with Pakistan continues to give sleepless nights to Indian policymakers who have sought to isolate Islamabad on the issue of terrorism. After it officially denied reports+ that it had shown any interest in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Moscow has not just declared strong support for the China-funded project but also announced its intention to link its own Eurasian Economic Union project with CPEC. CPEC, which will link Gwadar in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province to Xinjiang in China, remains a major bugbear for Indian foreign policy as it passes through the Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan administered Kashmir claimed by India. Beijing has shown scant regard for India's concerns despite PM Narendra Modi himself having taken up the issue of Chinese involvement in the disputed territory with President Xi Jinping. Moscow last month emphatically denied Pakistan media reports that it was looking to involve itself in CPEC by acquiring access to the port built by China at Gwadar+. Russia's ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Y Dedov has now been quoted as saying that Russia and Pakistan have held discussions to merge Moscow's Eurasian Economic Union project with the CPEC. Dedov said Russia "strongly" supported CPEC as it was important for Pakistan's economy and also regional connectivity. The mixed signals emanating from Moscow, as strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney said, are injecting uncertainty in the direction of the Russia-India relationship whose trajectory long epitomized constancy and stability. "It is as if Moscow no longer sees India as a reliable friend or partner. Indeed, by seeking common cause with India's regional adversaries — including by supporting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through internationally disputed territory and engaging with the Pakistan-backed Taliban — Russia is challenging India's core interests," said Chellaney. India continues to officially maintain that...

Trump Inherits the 'Good War'

The question of what President-elect Donald Trump has planned for Afghanistan rarely came up during his run for the presidency. As is the sometimes-custom of Trump, apart from several tweets (“Let's get out of Afghanistan?”) and inflammatory comments (“Karzai is a crook”), it’s unclear what he wants to do in the country, despite the fact that it is the site of the longest war in U.S. history. Since 2002, the international community has spent some $100 billion on rebuilding the country and its economy. Nearly 70 percent of Afghanistan's annual income is from international donors. Washington itself “is by far the largest spender on the Afghan armed forces and government. Without U.S. financial support, it is difficult to imagine the state, in its current form, surviving,” said Thomas Ruttig, the co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent, non-profit think tank. Yet the next American president has been a harsh critic of the very aid the Afghan state depends on, according to Barnett Rubin, director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and a long-time adviser on Afghanistan to both the UN and the United States. “He believes it’s wasted money,” Rubin said. In Afghanistan, Trump may have a strong argument. Despite what the United States has spent there in the name of improving security, UN figures indicate that civilian deaths have reached a new peak since the beginning of the census in 2009. Between January 1 and September 30 of this year, the UN recorded 2,562 conflict-related civilians deaths and 5,835 injuries. Meanwhile, Transparency International has repeatedly accused Afghan politicians of stealing millions of dollars of aid money. Corruption is also one of the main causes of the extreme poverty afflicting the country. Rubin said Trump would face congressional opposition if he tried to cut off all of Afghanistan’s aid. “But I think [such aid] will come into much greater question than if Hillary Clinton has been elected,”...

Trump Inherits the ‘Good War’

The question of what President-elect Donald Trump has planned for Afghanistan rarely came up during his run for the presidency. As is the sometimes-custom of Trump, apart from several tweets (“Let's get out of Afghanistan?”) and inflammatory comments (“Karzai is a crook”), it’s unclear what he wants to do in the country, despite the fact that it is the site of the longest war in U.S. history. Since 2002, the international community has spent some $100 billion on rebuilding the country and its economy. Nearly 70 percent of Afghanistan's annual income is from international donors. Washington itself “is by far the largest spender on the Afghan armed forces and government. Without U.S. financial support, it is difficult to imagine the state, in its current form, surviving,” said Thomas Ruttig, the co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent, non-profit think tank. Yet the next American president has been a harsh critic of the very aid the Afghan state depends on, according to Barnett Rubin, director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and a long-time adviser on Afghanistan to both the UN and the United States. “He believes it’s wasted money,” Rubin said. In Afghanistan, Trump may have a strong argument. Despite what the United States has spent there in the name of improving security, UN figures indicate that civilian deaths have reached a new peak since the beginning of the census in 2009. Between January 1 and September 30 of this year, the UN recorded 2,562 conflict-related civilians deaths and 5,835 injuries. Meanwhile, Transparency International has repeatedly accused Afghan politicians of stealing millions of dollars of aid money. Corruption is also one of the main causes of the extreme poverty afflicting the country. Rubin said Trump would face congressional opposition if he tried to cut off all of Afghanistan’s aid. “But I think [such aid] will come into much greater question than if Hillary Clinton has been elected,”...

PM heads cabinet meeting on FATA Reforms Committee Report

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has been in the throes of insurgency and disorder for the last fifteen years. Reforms for the semi-autonomous region have been at the top of the agenda for the national counterterrorism strategy, dubbed the National Action Plan (NAP). On November 8, 2015, FATA Reforms Committee was formed. It is headed by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz as it chairman and governor Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), federal minister for state and frontier regions, federal minister for law and justice and the national security advisor as its members was formulated. The committee works on consultations and recommendations for reforms in FATA on the basis of the following four themes: Maintain the status quo but introduce judicial/administrative reforms and increase focus on development activities; create FATA Council on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB); FATA to become a separate province and Integrate FATA with KP The committee has visited all the seven agencies and held 16 meetings with all the stake-holders including, notables and politicians of FATA, media persons, students, business community, lawyers and political parties.[1] In August 2016, it came up with a report which overwhelmingly recommended that FATA should be integrated with KP which will require a transition period of 5 years. Other recommendations for reform include: rehabilitation and reconstruction; socio-economic development of FATA; elected local bodies for FATA; legal reforms; capacity building of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and land settlement in FATA. On Thursday, the Prime Minister headed a cabinet meeting to discuss the FATA Reforms Committee’s report in detail.[2] The government decided to hold further consultations on the reforms to evolve political consensus. Two political parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) had expressed reservations about the FATA’s merger with KP. The PM vowed...

Sabawoon Showcase: Importance of Sports Activities in the Revival of Peace in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)

December 14, 2016, Peshawar: The latest episode of Sabawoon, flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), focused on the role of sports in promoting peace and harmony in FATA. The program was aired under the theme of Jwandai Jazbey (living spirits) on Wednesday. Mr. Shahid Shinwari, President FATA Olympic Association, participated as the studio guest in the show. The key points of discussion included the contribution of sports activities to peace building, initiation of games for women, organizing sports events in FATA and creating opportunities for FATA’s youth to excel in sports industry. Moreover, the program underscored the lack of sports facilities in FATA and the role of FATA Olympic Association in organizing different games in the region. A radio report on the central theme of the program was made part of the program. The report shed light on the plans of FATA Sports Directorate to promote sports activities and build sports facilities for the purpose of sustainable peace in the region. Mr. Shahid Shinwari, President FATA Olympic Association, said: “Militancy has negatively impacted the denizens of FATA. A thick layer of fear still shrouds the region and that is why people avoid public gatherings. To overcome this situation, the Association is planning to organize different games and festivals throughout FATA. We are optimistic that such initiatives will help revitalize peace in the region.” Sabawoon airs Monday through Thursday on FM-101.5 Peshawar & DI Khan 711 KHZ from 3:20 PM to 4:00 PM. [1] About Sabawoon 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...