A recent study by a renowned US-based think organization places Pakistan at the top of the list of countries most at risk of a new wave of mass killings. One of the primary issues for the country, which is already experiencing political and economic woes, is violence by the Taliban, according to the research. The Washington, DC-based think tank, Early Warning Project, stated in a report that Pakistan faces numerous security and human rights challenges, including rising violence by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is accountable for a nonstate-led mass killing episode that has been ongoing since 2001. “Our statistical model estimates that there is a 16.3%, or approximately 1 in 6, the chance of a new mass killing beginning in Pakistan in 2022 or 2023. Pakistan ranks first highest-risk among 162 countries,” the EWP says in its report. This is the third year in a row that Pakistan has been put at the top of the list of 162 countries facing the highest risk of mass killings. The report said, “Pakistan has numerous security and human rights issues, including rising Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) violence.” Both domestically and from across the border in Afghanistan, where TTP enjoys safe havens under Afghan Taliban protection, Pakistan has seen a substantial rise in terrorist strikes. The country’s blasphemy laws, which have led to instances of mob violence against religious minorities, and threats of strikes by ISIS, according to the EWP assessment, were further reasons for Pakistan’s high-risk ranking. The report was released a few days after the TTP militant group made a statement canceling a months-long truce with the government to stop the carnage and urging its members to start attacking again. On the list, Afghanistan was rated eighth. Two other Asian countries made the top ten list, including Myanmar at number three, where the military overthrew the government in a coup in February of last year. India was ranked eighth because, according to the...

BUCHAREST (Nov 30): NATO countries must avoid repeating mistakes they made in relations with Russia to ensure they limit dependence on China, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said. “I believe in free trade and member states should continue to trade with China but we cannot make these decisions only based on commercial considerations,” Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, after its foreign ministers discussed issues including China ties and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Bucharest. “We’ve seen this issue with Russia, it’s not just a commercial decision, it has to do with our security. Over dependence of resources on authoritarian regimes like Russia makes us vulnerable and we should not repeat that mistake with China,” Stoltenberg said. He added: “We should assess our vulnerabilities and reduce them.” Earlier in Bucharest, some ministers stressed that Beijing could help push for a deal to end the war in Ukraine. This comes after the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had agreed in June that China posed a “systemic challenge” and warned about a deepening strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters after the meeting that governments need to “make sure that when China is making investments in our countries,” which “we want to sustain,” it is necessary “to be careful with that, in particularly sensitive areas, strategic areas, strategic industries, companies infrastructure.” Security considerations must be taken “fully into account before allowing any investments to go forward,” Blinken said. ‘Aggressive’ Behaviour Stoltenberg described China’s behaviour toward Taiwan as “aggressive, coercing and threatening”, saying “there is no reason for that and any conflict around Taiwan would be in nobody’s interest”. While the allies pledged increased support to Ukraine at the Bucharest meeting, including air-defence systems, Stoltenberg acknowledged the need to...

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security, such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Washington will support the Pakistan government’s efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms, a State Department spokesperson told Dawn on Tuesday. On Monday, the outlawed TTP had asked its combatants to carry out attacks across the country because of alleged “unabated” operations by security forces against militants in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Deploring the outlawed TTP’s decision to end its ceasefire with the government of Pakistan, the United Nations also expressed grave concern over the move that, they fear, could lead to increased suffering for civilians in the country. “We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups. We look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats,” a State Department spokesperson told Dawn in response to a query. The spokesperson recalled that the Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks in the past two decades, adding: “We support the Pakistan government’s efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms”. Separately, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General called the TTP’s decision “most unfortunate”, saying that this could lead to an increase in acts of terrorism. “That would be most unfortunate if that is, in fact, true,” he said when informed at a briefing that TTP had announced ending its ceasefire with the Pakistani government, and that its leaders have already ordered their cadres to re-launch attacks on Pakistani targets. When asked to elaborate this response, Mr Dujarric said: “I personally haven’t seen those reports, but obviously, any action that leads to increased violence that could lead to increased acts of terrorism and increase suffering for civilians is something that is of...

A U.N. panel of specialists claimed that the Taliban may have committed a crime against humanity by how it treated women and children in Afghanistan and that this should be looked into and prosecuted per international law. The Taliban denied the UN claims. The Taliban confirmed that three women were among the 12 persons who were beaten on Wednesday in front of a large crowd at a regional sports stadium, prompting the United Nations to assign experts. In front of elders, scholars, and locals at Taloqan’s main mosque during Friday prayers on November 11, ten men and nine women in the northeastern Takhar province were each whipped 39 times. They were charged with fornication, adultery, and running away from home. The latest Taliban measures against women and girls have intensified previously-existing rights breaches, which are already among the “most severe globally,” according to U.N. experts. They also may constitute gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity. In August 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan as American and NATO forces prepared to leave the nation after 20 years of conflict.  They first pledged a more liberal administration to protect the rights of women and minorities, but instead, they have curtailed liberties and applied their stringent interpretation of Islamic law. Girls have been barred from attending middle and high school and they are required to dress from head to toe in public. Women are also excluded from most types of employment.  Additionally, parks, gyms, and amusement parks do not allow women. During the previous Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted in a U.S.-led invasion after the September 11 terrorist attacks, public lashings, public executions, and stoning for alleged offenses were commonplace throughout Afghanistan. Although the examples of public beatings were not particularly mentioned in the experts’ statement, they did note that the Taliban had assaulted men who were with women who were...

After the fall of the Republic on August 15, 2021, the Oversight and Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives asked Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction  (SIGAR) to investigate the causes of the collapse of the Afghan government and the relative success or failure of American reconstruction efforts to establish and maintain Afghan governing institutions since 2002. Six elements were noted by SIGAR as contributing to the fall of the Afghan government: 1. First, the Afghan administration was oblivious to the fact that the US would truly withdraw. The United States had wavered on the subject of military withdrawal for almost 20 years and through three U.S. presidents. Even as the United States formally stated its intention to leave Afghanistan in the years before its departure, inconsistent messaging from American officials undermined efforts to persuade Afghan officials, who had an optimistic outlook on alternative outcomes, of the seriousness of U.S. intentions. As a result, when the US troops and its contractors left, the Afghan government was fundamentally unfit to lead the war against the Taliban. 2. Second, it was weakened and undermined by the Afghan government’s isolation from US-Taliban negotiations. Before the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021, a permanent political settlement that would bring about long-term peace and stability was the main objective of the United States in Afghanistan. That objective was hampered by the Taliban’s refusal to communicate with the Afghan government without first engaging in negotiations with the US. By dealing with the Taliban first, the United States attempted to avoid this and lay the way for an intra-Afghan peace process and perhaps an Afghan political settlement. The U.S.-Taliban accord, however, had no such impact. Instead, the Afghan government was weakened by its exclusion from U.S.-Taliban discussions and the belief that the United States was ceasing its support, and the...