Manish Rai

Recently, the Taliban ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities. Before this drastic decision last year, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs was dissolved. And the sinister Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention […]

For decades, the Baloch insurgency has been termed as a low-intensity conflict confined mostly to Balochistan, the country’s largest province by territory. But that seems to have changed, as a spate of attacks that have taken place this year demonstrate that insurgency has entered a crucial new phase. Despite an intensive crackdown on rebels, the […]

With the recent killing of Al-Qaeda (AQ) chief Ayman al-Zawahri in the Afghan capital, Kabul, a lot of speculation is happening about the future of this terror outfit. Some analysts are even going to the extent of suggesting that Al-Qaeda is nearing its end. But certainly, that is highly unlikely. The group survived its ideological […]

The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after days of cross-border fighting triggered by surprise Israeli airstrikes. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said its aerial bombardment was a pre-emptive action aimed at preventing rocket attacks planned by PIJ against Israeli targets. In retaliation for airstrikes, […]

Recently India has reinvented its engagement policy with the Taliban. In the first week of June, a high-level Indian diplomatic delegation led by J P Singh, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs held a meeting with the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the Afghan capital. This was the first-ever official […]

The Taliban have firm control over Afghanistan. At this point in time, there are no opponents capable of undermining their positions in terms of military, political, or even economic resources. Also, there have been no meaningful changes in the radical ideology of the Taliban. It is still a militant group ruling over a UN member […]

In 2018, Pakistan witnessed the rise of a new celebrity Prime Minister, Imran Khan who vowed to halt dynastic politics, end corruption and boost the economy. Common Pakistanis, especially the youth, saw Khan as their only ray of hope. As before coming to power, Khan, in his speeches, pledged to root out corruption and lift […]

Balochistan Pakistan’s largest province in terms of area in the last few weeks has witnessed a drastic increase in attacks against the Pakistani security forces, with Baloch rebels having caused heavy casualties to the state forces in different operations. Baloch insurgents are usually involved in scattered target killings, small ambush, and roadside bombings. Now we’re […]

Last month, Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog headquartered in Paris. Turkey now joins its close ally Pakistan in FATF’s crosshairs. Surprisingly, Turkey becomes the largest economy to be included in this list. The FATF listing for Ankara comes […]

Attacks carried out by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) aka Pakistani Taliban have increased to the highest level in over four years after the US left Afghanistan and the Afghan Taliban took power. The TTP has been emboldened by the developments in next-door Afghanistan. This has complicated the internal security scenario for Pakistan as the country is […]