By Ben Schreiner The French military intervention into Mali on Friday — France’s second in as many years into a former African colony — was reportedly “seconded” by the United States.  This ought to come as no great surprise, given the Pentagon’s deepening penetration into Africa. According to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the Pentagon plans on deploying soldiers to 35 different African countries in 20 ...

Posted By Faheem Belharvi The start of the year has brought the withdrawal of US-led international troops from Afghanistan one step closer. This year will be pivotal, as it becomes ever more pressing to shore up the security situation in the Central Asian country and arrange the details of the transition that leads up to next year’s withdrawal. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is paying a visit to the United S ...

Asif Haroon Raja The MQM averse to sitting on opposition benches has remained in power five times since 1985. Although the most dominant party in Karachi, its vote bank in Karachi never crossed the figure of 8 lacs but suddenly shot up to 25 lacs in 2008 elections. Consequently, its seats in Sindh and federal governments increased significantly. PPP-MQM alliance, although a marriage of convenience, has rema ...

Posted by Faheem Belharvi President Karzai of Afghanistan wrapped up his 5-day state visit to India on 13th of December on an insignificant note. He utilized major part of his visit to plead Indian business community to invest more in Afghanistan. India has already pledged US $2 billion for development in Afghanistan with particular focus on extraction of huge mineral deposits. India capitalized on his visi ...

By Sajjad Shaukat When during the Musharraf regime, Pakistan government initiated the construction of Gwadar deep-seaport in the Balochistan province in March 2002 with Chinese assistance, a siren went off in the capitals of the United States, India and Israel. The US took it as a threat to its global plans, and India felt that it threatened its integrity. Israel also took it as a greater threat from an Isl ...

By Patrick O’Connor Marking the first US drone attacks of 2013, the Obama administration ordered two separate missile bombardments in Pakistan and Yemen on Wednesday and Thursday. The latest attacks demonstrate that the drawdown of US-led occupying forces in Afghanistan will be accompanied by an expansion of illegal drone operations across the Middle East. At least 16 people were reported killed, all allege ...

 By Asif Haroon Raja Sudden arrival of Chairman Minhajul Quran, Dr Tahirul Qadri in Pakistan and holding a mammoth public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan on 23 December has puzzled the thinking minds and set the tongues wagging about his stated and hidden motives. It is being asked whether he has come of his own accord driven by pristine thoughts or has been launched with an agenda. Some say he has been motivat ...

     By Sajjad Shaukat Media reported on January 2, this year that while changing professional priorities, Pakistan Army has declared the internal threats such as anti-state terrorist groups as major challenge to the country. In the newly published Green Book, known as Army Doctrine, a new chapter, titled, ‘Sub-conventional Warfare’ has been added which also mentions about the militant intrusion in Pakistan ...