What militants erase
There is almost nothing left of the frail wooden building. Pakistanis, however, are adept at imagining the whole where there is only a bombed-out hulk. The promises to rebuild the…
Militants’ language
Pakistan had braced itself for a ‘bloody’ election. It’s bad enough that being resigned to this reality was a prerequisite for further democratic consolidation. But the carnage that is unfolding…
Manufacture of the militant discourse
Following an embedded visit to the terrorism-hit Waziristan last December, an Islamabad-based journalist broke a story about cracks appearing in the leadership of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Claiming an…
People, economics and security
The slight improvement in Pakistan's economy is welcome — especially as it comes some months before the next budget is due. Everyone in Pakistan wishes for nothing more than an…
Struggling against terrorism
IT has been a decade since the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which killed some 150 students and staff in December 2014. It was the darkest moment in Pakistan’s…
Year of unmet challenges
2024 saw intensifying political tensions and turmoil in Pakistan, which sharpened polarisation in the country and made political stability elusive. The year was marked by democratic regression and increasing autocratisation as the…
Back in the news
“YOU can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” Those famous lyrics are going to haunt American officials after next month’s US presidential elections as Washington…
Coercive diplomacy
PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN relations have been on a downward trajectory. They plunged to a new low earlier this month when Pakistan carried out air strikes on hideouts of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan…
The wages of conflict
THE recent three-day Pashtun Qaumi Jirga in Jamrud was a reflection of the anguish of people who have suffered in a conflict that has ravaged KP for over two decades.…
Reviewing CT strategy
THERE was nothing in the communiqué issued after the latest National Security Committee meeting that we have not heard before. Phrases like ‘zero tolerance for terrorism’ and ‘violence will be dealt with,…
