In Afghanistan, Taliban surpasses al-Qaeda

As violence rises in Afghanistan, the power balance between insurgent groups has shifted, with a weakened al-Qaeda relying increasingly on the emboldened Taliban for protection and the manpower to carry out deadly attacks, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials in The Washington Post. Although the war in Afghanistan began as a response to al-Qaeda [...]

New America Foundation: drones killed 320 innocents in Pakistan

How many civilians have been killed in the U.S. drone war in Pakistan? The number could be as high as 320 innocents, according to an analysis by Peter Bergen released today by the New America Foundation. That’s about a third of the 1,000 or so people slain in the robotic aircraft attacks since 2006, Wired [...]

Pakistan Launches Full-Scale Offensive in war with domestic Taleban

The Pakistani military launched a major ground offensive Saturday in the insurgent haven of South Waziristan, starting a much-awaited fight that could define the nation’s increasingly bloody domestic struggle against Islamist extremism. Pakistani officials said nearly 30,000 troops were deployed in the Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold, from which militants have planned a two-week-long string of [...]

Pakistan court drops charges against leader of group suspected in Mumbai terror attacks

[JURIST] A Pakistani court on Monday dismissed charges against Islamic cleric Hafiz Muhammad Saeed , the founder and leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an Islamic group suspected of playing a key role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. A two-judge panel of the Lahore High Court dismissed the charges, which included using language criticizing Pakistan and [...]

Pakistan amends anti-terror laws

The government of Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism laws to increase the remand period for the interrogation of terror suspects from 30 to 90 days.
Correspondents say that the move is one of the conditions of a recent bill passed by the US Congress which triples non-military aid to Pakistan. The Kerry-Lugar bill provides an annual [...]

Democracy is main weapon in Pakistan’s struggle against extremism, Zardari tells UN

One of the main weapons in Pakistan’s arsenal in its struggle against extremism is democracy, the South Asian nation’s leader told the General Assembly today, calling for increased global support for humanitarian efforts in the wake of recent military operations.
“Democracy has given people ownership to the fight against terrorism,” President Asif Ali Zardari told [...]

UK court convicts three in 2006 airliner plot

After two trials and the largest counter-terrorism investigation in Britain’s history, three out of eight accused were found guilty of conspiring to kill passengers and crew members aboard at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners on a single day with liquid explosives smuggled aboard in soft-drink bottles and detonated by devices powered with AA batteries. The men [...]

Pakistani security forces accused of sending death squads to execute suspected Taliban militants

The country’s leading human rights lawyer, Asma Jahangir, accused the armed forces of waging a campaign of extra-judicial killings in the Swat valley and called for an independent inquiry after reports that 20 bodies were found in a mass grave at the weekend. The Human Right Commission, which she founded, said it had compiled evidence [...]

CRS on Overt U.S. Aid to Pakistan

The United States provided around $15.4 billion in overt aid to Pakistan between Fiscal Years 2002 and 2009, according to a newly updated Congressional Research Service tabulation.  The U.S. aid included military training, equipment and other forms of assistance.  An additional $3.6 billion is requested for FY 2010.  See “Direct Overt U.S. Aid and Military [...]

John Brennan on the US counterterrorism policy

Remarks by John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, As Prepared for Delivery “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans, 6 August 2009. Read the speech here.
Interview with Brennan here. Comments in the LA Times and the WSJ.