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Pak-Afghan Region Has Highest Concentration of Terrorists: US
The Pak-Afghan region has the highest concentration of terrorist groups in the world, warns Gen John W. Nicholson, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. In an annual assessment of US military operations in Afghanistan this year, the general also took credit for rescuing former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son from a militant hideout in Afghanistan earlier this year and for killing the perpetrator of the Dec 16, 2014 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. At a recent news briefing at the Pentagon, Gen Nicholson said that there were 98 US-designated terrorist groups around the world and 20 of them were in the Pak-Afghan region. “This represents the highest concentration of terrorist groups anywhere in the world,” he added. Thirteen of these 20 groups were based in Afghanistan and seven in Pakistan. Gen Nicholson said that the groups operating in this region often “mix and converge”, which made them even more dangerous. “For example, Islamic State of Khorasan today is formed of members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and even some former members of the Afghan Taliban,” he said. Throughout the year, US counter-terrorism (CT) forces focused on these groups, conducting over 350 operations against Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State group in 2016 and dozens more against other groups. In these operations, US forces killed or captured nearly 50 leaders of AQIS (Al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent) leaders. Additionally, about 200 other members of Al Qaeda and the Al Qaeda Islamic State groups were killed or captured as well. “Our CT forces rescued the son of the former Pakistani prime minister Gilani in a raid against Al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan… and killed five emirs of these 20 terrorist groups,” he said. “We killed Hamidullah, the emir of the Islamic Jihad Union, and Omar Khalifa, who is the Tariq Gidar Group emir.” The Tariq Gidar Group carried out the attack on the Army Public School,...
Education A ‘Beacon of Hope’ In Afghanistan
Education in Afghanistan has historically mirrored the ups and downs of the socio-political upheavals in the country. However, the Afghan people’s demand for quality education, their efforts to ensure greater access, and their belief in education as a transformative force has been unwavering, and is especially true today. In 2015, over 9.2 million students (39 percent female) attended schools, with local school shuras (community-led decision-making bodies) playing a key role in driving this nine-fold increase since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Despite today’s deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, schools continue to serve as beacons of hope for Afghan people. In The Asia Foundation’s just-released 2016 Survey of Afghan People, newly opened schools for girls rank fourth in a list of 10 reasons why Afghan people think that their country is moving in the right direction. This reflects the public conviction that education positively changes the trajectory of children’s lives, expands their opportunities, and has the potential to enable them to find jobs and integrate into mainstream society in the future. Among the many benefits of education is the opportunity it affords for economic advancement. This is particularly relevant now as Afghanistan’s economy is further challenged. One of the top reasons people are pessimistic in Afghanistan is due to unemployment. Educationally marginalized Afghans tend to be further economically disadvantaged, as the survey results suggest. A positive correlation (stronger for Afghan women compared to men) exists between the respondent’s education and income level. Among Afghans who report having some level of formal schooling, 56.6 percent say they earn an income, compared to 35.2 percent of Afghans who stated they never attended formal school. Among Afghan women who report some level of formal education, 16.6 percent are employed, compared to those with no formal education of which 6.1 percent were employed. Similarly,...
62 Banned Groups Active In Sindh, Says Official Report
An official report authored by the Sindh home ministry has identified 62 banned religious or sectarian organisations active in the province, including the re-emergence of 35 such groups, it emerged on Wednesday. “We have identified 62 banned religious / sectarian organisations and have requested the Ministry of Interior (MoI) for more information [about them],” said the report that was shared with the apex committee in a recent meeting. It said the investigation revealed that 35 groups, which had gone into hibernation after being slapped with the ban by the federal government, had re-emerged. Most of those groups [12], said the report, re-emerged in Benazirabad, the native district of the co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Besides, six of them resurfaced in Sukkur, five in Mirpurkhas, three each in Hyderabad and Korangi, and two each in Karachi West, Sujawal and Tando Mohammad Khan. Officials said the government had included 602 persons in the IVth Schedule of the banned organisations in Sindh. According to anti-terrorism law, the federal government may list a person “as a proscribed person in the Fourth Schedule on an ex-parte basis”, if there are reasonable grounds to believe that, such person is concerned in terrorism [category A]; an activist, office-bearer or an associate of an organisation kept under observation or banned [category B]; and in any way concerned or suspected to be concerned with such organisation or affiliated with any group or organisation suspected to be involved in terrorism or sectarianism or acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, any person or organisation proscribed under the ATC Act [category C]. Most of such individuals [221] belonged to the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), of whom 154 have been put under category A. The remaining persons belonging to other organisations are as under: Khudam-ul-Islam [four], Harkat-ul-Mujahideen [19], Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi [three], Pakistan Sunni Tehrik [10],...
Human Rights Under Threat
DAY after tomorrow, the people of Pakistan will join the rest of humankind in celebrating Human Rights Day. The government too will indulge in ritualistic rhetoric. An honest approach should persuade it to do some soul-searching, for human rights in Pakistan face serious threats today. Of late, the most fundamental human right — the right to life, liberty and security of life — has come under increased strain. Several incidents have exposed as sheer obduracy the government’s rejection of a moratorium on executions until the abolition of death penalty can be rationally discussed. The other day, the Supreme Court acquitted a man who had spent 11 years in jail. He was sentenced to death in December 2005 by a sessions court on the charge of killing a villager. The high court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court rejected the evidence that the trial court had relied upon. Some days earlier, the same court acquitted a man who had spent two decades in prison for a murder in 1992. More heart-wrenching was the story of two brothers who were acquitted of the murder charge levelled against them in 2002, after they had been hanged in October 2015. Of late, the right to life, liberty and security of life has come under increased strain. The last mentioned case strengthened the argument for abolition of death penalty on the ground of its being irreversible. It also created serious doubts about the level of efficiency of an administration that hangs two men while their appeal is pending. Were those guilty of this crime — which amounts to murder by negligence if not murder in the name of law — called to account, and have any steps been taken to avoid a recurrence? The argument for action on both counts is irrefutable. All three cases throw light on a perennial theme — the law’s delays. While attempts have been made to expedite murder trials, especially through the creation of anti-terrorism courts, little seems to have been done to reduce the time murder...
Indo-Pak CBM blues
One has noted with some trepidation that many people who matter across the globe — and that includes the UN Secretary General, have resumed the erstwhile chorus of advising Pakistan and India to settle their issues through bilateral dialogue. There is a definite aura of deja vu about it! This calls for a pause for a bit of introspection. The recent incidents across the LOC and the Indian establishment’s somewhat irrational reaction on other fronts have underlined once again the futility of a dialogue based on CBMs (confidence building measures) as against one aimed at the settlement betimes of the contentious issues between the two countries. We, as a nation, appeared to be afflicted with the debilitating disease that may be called, for want of a better appellation, CBMitis? Our relations with our neighbour appear to be stuck in a groove. And yet we are goaded to do more of the same. What is hard to understand is why the world insists that we immerse ourselves headlong in the sea of CBMs. Is not our cup already overflowing with them as it is? It came to pass that we got so enamoured with this quest that at one stage in the past we went to the extent of advocating the cause of CBMs in the UN General Assembly. Our philosophy appeared to be: what is good for the goose should be equally good for the gander. It would perhaps be a wee bit impolite to butt in and point out to the powers that be that CBMs are at best the means to an end and should never be confused with the end itself. Over-obsession with CBMs could very well result in making the overall picture murky and obscure. It would be in the fitness of things to pause and take stock before we are totally engulfed by the make-believe syndrome. While on the subject of CBMs between India and Pakistan, one may well be within one’s rights to pose the question as to what happened to the (once) much-vaunted back-channel diplomacy? In the words of a screaming headline in a newspaper some summers back, it (back-channel...
Challenges for a Big Venture
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not an ordinary run-of-the-mill project; it involves massive economic activity. Its impact is already being felt in Pakistan, albeit not in the way it was expected. Though the Afghan corridor, which can link the CPEC, remains unavailable due to instability, the government continues to sell the project as a game-changer for the region. This commercial project was offered formally in May 2013 to Pakistan. The diktat of China’s own priorities and needs was the prime mover behind the offer. One must realise that corridor diplomacy connects China with 60 countries, setting up potential trade with a further 4.4 billion people and boosting China’s GDP by 25 percent. The CPEC is one of the six corridors envisaged under the One Belt, One Road project (OBOR) at a cost of $900 billion. The proposed corridors are the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC), New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB), China-Central and West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC), China-Indo-China Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC), CPEC and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIMEC). Except for the CPEC, all other corridors have so far remained non-controversial. But that does not mean that they are faring better than the CPEC. Opposition from India and US was expected. India reiterated the objection it had raised in the 1960s when China and Pakistan finalised their borders and consequently built the Karakoram Highway on territory claimed by both India and Pakistan. Another reason for the Indian opposition could be the Modi government’s known policy to deny any opportunity to Pakistan to consolidate its economy. The US is worried that the CPEC would facilitate stationing of the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean. It supports India’s position that India alone has primacy right in the Indian Ocean. This fits well in with its global agenda to prop up India to counter the rising power of China. The US and its allies deny that they want to curtail...
China Urges Parties in Iran Deal to Stick To Pact As Trump Presidency Approaches
The implementation of the Iran nuclear deal should not be affected by any changes in the domestic situations of countries involved in the agreement, China's foreign minister said. The comment comes days after the US Senate voted to renew sanctions against Iran. "Maintaining the deal's continued, comprehensive and effective implementation is the responsibility and common interest of all parties, and should not be impacted by changes in the internal situation of each country," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday. "What is important is to honor commitments and place an emphasis on good faith when it comes to differences or possible differences" over the deal, he said, as cited by AFP. Zarif later said that Iran’s nuclear deal “is a multilateral agreement and all parties should respect it. Iran and China have the same stance on this,” Reuters reported, citing Iran's Tasnim news agency. "We will not let any country infringe the agreement unilaterally," he added. "But if they do, Iran has its own options." His comments come after the US Senate voting unanimously last week to renew the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another decade. It has been described as a symbolic move, but it allows the president to impose new restrictions on Tehran if it violates the 2015 nuclear accord. In November, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned the American government that if it renews sanctions over his country’s nuclear program for another 10 years, there will be consequences. “The current government of the United States has breached the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] on multiple occasions; the most recent being a 10-year extension of existing sanctions,” he said in a speech reprinted on his official website. “If these sanctions are put into place, the JCPOA has certainly been breached and they [the USA] should be aware that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not...
Afghanistan: Survey Finds Levels of Fear at Their Highest
Findings of Asia Foundation's 12th annual Survey of the Afghan People were released Wednesday in Kabul and found the downward trajectory in national mood, which began in 2013, has continued: in 2016, just 29.3 percent of Afghans say the country is moving in the right direction, the lowest level of optimism recorded in the Survey since it began in 2004, and down from 36.7 percent in 2015. While the drop in 2015 can be partly explained by post-election disappointments after the exuberance and campaign promises preceding the 2014 presidential elections, the lower optimism in 2016 appears to reflect a sustained change in sentiment related to perceptions of security, the economy, and government achievements, their report stated. Afghans appear to have less confidence in every level of government, yet they also have less desire to emigrate. This year's survey polled 12,658 Afghan respondents, 52.7 percent of them male and 47.4 percent female, representing 16 ethnic groups from all 34 provinces in the country. The report stated that the marked rise in civilian casualties and worsening violence has contributed to the highest recorded level of fear in over a decade. It states that Afghans in 2016 are more fearful for their security, more dissatisfied with the economy, and less confident in their government. "The national mood continued to decline, and this year marks the lowest level of optimism since the survey began in 2004," it stated. More than one-third of Afghans say their household financial situation has grown worse in the past year and most Afghans say they have no confidence in the Independent Elections Commission. "Confidence in every level of government appears to have fallen since 2015," the report stated. But this year's survey also provides some reasons for optimism. It stated that "despite the worsening economic and security environment, the desire to emigrate fell to a record low this year, a striking change from 2015, as large numbers of previous...
Sabawoon Showcase: Status of Polio Infected Persons and Government’s Plans to Erdicate Polio Virus
The latest episode of Sabawoon, flagship radio program of Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), focused on the status of people infected with polio in Khyber Pahtunkhwa (KP) and KP government’s plans to control and get rid of the polio virus in the region. The key points of discussion included an overview of the current scenario of polio infected persons in KP, infection of children by polio virus, transmission of this virus from infected people, polluted environment helping spread of the virus, polio vaccination campaigns, techniques to control polio, hygiene issues giving birth to polio viruses, and refusal of polio vaccination by families in KP. Furthermore, the program discussed the plans of government and international organizations to annihilate the polio problem in the region. The program was aired under the theme “Jarga Marrakka” (debate and council) on Monday. Dr. Akram Khan, Assistant Director of Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Program, Peshawar(KP), participated as the studio guest in the show. A radio report, based on the aforementioned theme of the show was made part of the program. The report shed light on prevailing situation regarding the polio vaccination in district Kohat and the hurdles faced by the polio teams in promoting their campaign. The report stated that the KP province tops Pakistan with a total number of 18 polio cases in the year 2016. Lack of awareness among public is the major reason behind this fact. Approximately, 30,000 familes in KP (including 2,000 families in Kohat) refused to vaccinate their children against polio virus. The government has been taking action against the families who have refused the vaccination to their children and is implementing Section 3MPA as a punishment of refusal. 2016 was counted as the year to eliminate polio from Pakistan. However, Pakistan (as well as Afghanistan) is still polio endemic country. Live Callers on the Show: Two callers took part in the show live and urged the...
Heart of Asia Realignments: India-Afghanistan In Open Courtship As Russia Falls By Wayside
In diplomacy, the subtext is often as important as the text. As the sixth edition of the annual Heart of Asia Conference came to a close on Sunday, between the comments and declarations, the narrative and the counter-narrative, lay the contours of a new, deviatory foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A nation's strategic affairs are usually the result of well-curated gradualism. Major shifts are rare unless there is a confluence of circumstances and a strong leadership willing to shake off hesitations of history. At the end of the two-day summit, it does appear that India is on the cusp of a bold revision. Two things are immediately clear. One, India is no longer coy about its relationship with Afghanistan and sees the Central Asian nation as an important pivot. Two, it is fast recalibrating its historic ties with Russia. We are still a long way away from hearing the last word of an enduring strategic partnership but New Delhi is close to accepting (after staying in long denial) that the Cold War-era bonhomie with Moscow is over. Indo-Russian ties, too, have fallen prey to the sweeping currents of realignment triggered by the end of American exceptionalism and the simultaneous rise of China. Though major regional and global players met in Amritsar ostensibly to guide Afghanistan through its political and economic transition, in reality Heart of Asia platform was reduced to staging just another boxing bout between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan with Russia trying to play the referee and media in Islamabad and New Delhi in breathless anticipation for resumption of talks. As if that would serve any purpose. The way the pugilists threw their punches, it became abundantly clear that Kabul and New Delhi now see no point in downplaying the convergence of their strategic and commercial interests. In setting diplomatic niceties aside and blasting Pakistan's complicity in sponsoring terror within its borders and inflicting an "undeclared war", Afghanistan...
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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.