Lubna Umar

Regional security dynamics reveal that the counterterrorism policies and plans pursued in South Asia have invariably been suffering from flaws and omissions, thus failing to achieve desired objectives. Whatever little that has been achieved is rapidly moving towards a reversal due to the incompetence of the authorities to buttress the process with the state machinery. […]

Enthusiastic, we began the journey to become a key ally in the global war on terror. From among the two great choices that we were so generously offered by our great friend — the US — we bravely chose to fight the war within the Pakistani borders head on. Spreading over a protracted era of […]

The air seems to be charged with violence and bloodshed. The smell of death and fear hangs like a cloud, raw and bleeding, adding weight to the already laden chilling atmosphere that has settled around us in the form of smog, thus increasing our myopia. We can hardly see past the end of our noses […]

Since ancient civilizations, water, as the most essential component that breeds life, has triggered clashes and full blown wars between its users and shareholders, a phenomenon that is being replicated in the subcontinent for decades now. The Pakistani administration has been aware of a perceived threat from India on the water issue and, despite knowing […]

The new government seems to be in control and a policy of peace is what the authorities have developed and are eager to employ in the backdrop of a chaotic security situation. The government even after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud has reiterated its original stance that only dialogue with them would bring peace to […]

 Improvised explosive devices or IEDs are homemade bombs constructed and employed in unconventional warfare operations where the use of conventional munitions becomes impossible. Any explosive weapon that does not originate from an industrial production line can be classified as an IED. Thus such devices are being used extensively by terrorists and insurgents due to the […]