The Afghan government’s decision to approach Iran for the prospective use of Chabahar port indicates the uncertainty it attributes to long-term relations with Pakistan. The Afghan government is trying to anticipate Pakistan’s potential moves and limit whatever leverage the latter holds over Afghanistan. A successful arrangement between Afghanistan and Iran can provide the ruling Taliban … Read more
Days ahead of Pakistan’s crucial, though highly controversial, national and provincial elections on February 8, over 30 terrorists stormed the Chodwan police station in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in the early hours of February 5, killing 10 security forces. Terror attacks in Pakistan have increased both in number and intensity since the return … Read more
Pakistan’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman operates as both a man of God and a political figure in a landscape marked by intricate politics and decades of religious conflict, where both aspects hold significant sway. And now he’s been tasked with a pivotal diplomatic mission. Rehman is anticipated to persuade the Afghan Taliban to assist Pakistan in … Read more
In reviewing the Taliban government’s security achievements in 2023 on December 31, Afghanistan’s acting Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said that any attacks that did occur were “all carried out by foreigners, especially the citizens of Tajikistan.” “Dozens of Tajikistan citizens have been killed in our operations and dozens of others have been arrested. Also, … Read more
On November 1, Pakistan commenced the forcible deportation of 1.73 million undocumented Afghans, leading to yet another humanitarian catastrophe. Seeking refuge is an essential human right, and the humiliation experienced by undocumented Afghan refugees at the hands of Pakistani security personnel, as supported by numerous reports and firsthand witness accounts, constitutes a significant violation of … Read more
Advertisement Large numbers of Afghans crammed into trucks and buses in Pakistan on Tuesday, heading to the border to return home ahead of the expiration of a Pakistani government deadline for those who are in the country illegally to leave or face deportation. The deadline is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all … Read more
Advertisement In the Chinese city of Nyingchi in Tibet, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani met his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi on October 5. They were both attending the 3rd Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation hosted by China. Bilateral relations and trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan were supposed to be the core of the … Read more
Advertisement Ashok Ullah sold all his family’s belongings to be able to afford the journey to Torkham border. The 35-year-old from Jalalabad city in Afghanistan is one of the hundreds of thousands “unauthorized” Afghan refugees who have been asked to leave Pakistan or face mass arrests and deportations. “The police started harassing us recently and … Read more
An Afghan refugee family return to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s border crossing, Torkham, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 11, 2015. Credit: AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File Advertisement Pakistan has ordered millions of illegal immigrants living in the country to leave by October 30. The decision has raised concerns about the fate of around 1.7 million undocumented … Read more
The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia A new joint committee on border movement aims to address the problem of cross-border attacks. Advertisement Since the Taliban recaptured power in August 2021, ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have encountered a period of uncertainty. Pakistan has particularly been concerned about cross-border militant attacks, which have claimed many lives, especially those of … Read more