Juan Cole

Iraqi guerrillas deployed a roadside bomb to kill a US soldier in Baghdad on Wednesday. Guerrillas have killed at least 20 US troops in May, compared to only 9 last March. The Daily Telegraph reveals that the unreleased photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib include graphic depictions of rape, both of a female and […]

The death toll in the Lahore bombing on Wednesday was announced to be 26, with 250 wounded. Aljazeera English suggests that an Inter-Services Intelligence building may have been among the targets. The Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (The Movement of Pakistani Taliban) , led by Baitullah Mahsud, has claimed the Lahore bombing as its own operation. Pakistan […]

A car bomb exploded in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday morning, killing at least 30 and wounding 100. The death toll could rise. The bomb targeted Pakistani security and intelligence offices, and likely was a Taliban response to the military campaign against them in the northwest. Lahore is a quintessentially Punjabi city, […]

Guerrillas near Falluja targeted an American convoy with a roadside bomb late Monday, killing 3 and wounding 2. One of those killed was State Department employee Terrence Barnich. Strongly Sunni Arab al-Anbar Province was the most violent place in Iraq three years ago, and still witnesses guerrilla activity against US and Iraqi government targets. The […]

The Pakistani Army said Tuesday morning that, as part of its Swat campaign, it had taken control of another strategic center, Maalam Jabba, which had been a stronghold of and training center for the Taliban Movement of Pakistan led by Mawlana Fazlullah. The military said it continues a slow advance in Mingora, the largest city […]

The NYT reports that various attacks in Mosul and Falluja killed 22 on Sunday, including a suicide bombing targeting a US convoy in Mosul that missed and hit a restaurant instead. As many were wounded in the attacks as killed. There was also an assault on national police in Mosul, and a roadside bombing that […]

India and Pakistan are now sharing intelligence on extremists for the first time. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a second term and his Congress Party much strengthened its majority in the Indian parliament in the recent elections. As a result, the PM has a free hand to negotiate with Pakistan if he so chooses, […]

The BBC says that Iran has banned Facebook ahead of its presidential election. Reformist candidate Mir Husain Musavi’s supporters had created a Facebook page and were using it to campaign for their candidate. Last year Egyptians used Facebook to campaign for political reform in Egypt, and, of course, it was an important part of the […]

The Pakistani military has announced that it has taken the strategic hilltop of Biny Baba Ziarat that overlooks the Swat Valley. Some 150 Taliban were said to be killed in the hard fighting, in which they put up strong resistance even though the Pakistani military deployed helicopter gunships and much heavier firepower than the Taliban […]