South Asia

Key Afghan Security Officials Sacked by Karzai
Taliban Reject Peace Talks
Bombings in Jalalabad, Kunduz, Qandahar

The security situation in Afghanistan continued to be bad on Sunday. In Jalalabad in the eastern Pashtun region, a roadside bomb targeting a US convoy injured 13 Afghans. It may be that the attack also killed a US soldier, since one was reported KIA in ‘eastern Afghanistan.’ In Qandahar to the southwest and in Kunduz […]

Pakistan

Why Pakistan needs the Separation of Religion and State;
Atrocities by Taliban against Ahmadis

Juan Cole

The attack by ten armed and trained militants on two Ahmadi places of worship resembled in its techniques the assault on Mumbai (Bombay) in fall of 2008 (see this Federation of American Scientists report [.pdf]). Some at least of the militants appear to have been from southern Punjab and to have been residing in Waziristan […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Commander Maulvi Fazlullah Said Killed in Nuristan

Juan Cole

Conflicting reports are emerging from the province of Nuristan in Afghanistan, some alleging that Maulvi Fazlullah, a.k.a. ‘Mulla Radio,’ has been killed in fierce fighting along with six companions. On Thursday, a group of insurgents took on Afghanistan National Army troops in Nuristan, with heavy fighting continuing on Friday. Maulvi Fazlullah was one of the […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Attack Qandahar Airfield; Parliament goes on Strike

Juan Cole

Guerrillas fired mortar shells and used small arms to attack the major US military base in south Afghanistan, Qandahar Airfield, on Saturday. The operation was the third major attack by insurgents during the past week. They had also attacked a NATO convoy in the capital, Kabul, and had attacked Bagram Base north of Kabul. The […]

Pakistan

Pakistan’s Social Media Ban Endangers Economic Growth

Juan Cole

The Lahore High Court’s ban on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and some other social media sites was supported on Friday in Pakistan by rallies of students, attorneys and fundamentalists. Blackberry services have also been banned by the Pakistani telecom authority. But these knowledge workers are unwittingly shooting themselves in the foot and raising the question of […]

Afghanistan

Kabul Blast Kills 19, Wounds 52; 5 US Troops Dead

Juan Cole

The BBC is reporting that Afghan guerrillas deployed a suicide car bomb against a NATO military convoy in west Kabul near the parliament building Tuesday morning, killing at least 19 persons and wounding 52. Five US troops are said among the dead. MSNBC has a good video report: The enormous fireball destroyed twenty vehicles. Spokesman […]

al-Qaeda

Police: Shahzad has no Links to Taliban; Clinton Remarks Produce Firestorm in Pakistan

Juan Cole

Pakistani authorities doing the hard police work in Karachi of attempting to trace the network of friends and contacts of attempted Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad have come up empty-handed. There is nothing in Shahzad’s background that links him to the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP or Taliban Movement of Pakistan), based in the Federally Administered […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: 57 Insurgent Attacks a Day; Taliban Vow Major Campaign; Karzai to Visit Washington

Juan Cole

The guerrilla forces in Afghanistan had launched new attacks on NATO and Afghanistan National Army targets in the past few days, after weeks in which they were busy making sure to get their cut of the profits from the poppy-based heroin trade. The return to the battlefield is an annual late spring and summer ritual […]

al-Qaeda

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: Niass & Shahzad

Juan Cole

I received some snarky message after the Shahzad attempted bombing in Times Square, asking if I were still standing behind the idea of Islam as a religion of peace. It was a stupid comment. Classical Islamic law forbids murder and forbids terrorism, and it forbids aggression. Whether that makes it a religion of peace is […]