Opinion

Taliban, Jamaat al-Ahrar Resurgence, KP Government, Rifts within Taliban & TTP, PTI-TTP Nexus

Jamaat al-Ahrar Resurgence, Taliban Power Struggles and a Drifting KP Government

Opinion /

I am often asked whether Afghanistan is witnessing a new political turn or whether the developments we are seeing are merely cosmetic. From the outside, it may appear that the Taliban are divided into two camps, the so-called Kandahar group and the Kabul group. One is associated with rigid policies, strict social controls, and an […]

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Taliban Decisions and Afghanistan’s Uncertain Future

Opinion /

( Shamim Shahid) For the Afghan Taliban, the past few months have underscored a hard reality they have long tried to deny: ideology cannot substitute for geography, and isolation cannot sustain an economy. Developments surrounding Iran’s Chabahar Port, India’s recalibrated policy, deepening ethnic discontent inside Afghanistan and growing unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa together paint a

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KP, KP’s Governance Crisis, CM Sohail Afridi Protests, PTI-TTP Nexus, Facilitators of Terror

KP’s Governance Crisis: CM Afridi Protests, PTI Facilitates Terror

Opinion /

The government’s priorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or KP, are clear to anyone observing the last three months under Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. Voters elected them expecting governance, service delivery, and attention to public needs, but what we see instead is a relentless focus on protests and jalsas. The administration appears obsessed with remaining on the

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Governance, Change That Never Came, KP Citizens Suffer, Haqqani Network vs Kandahari Taliban, PTI & CM Afridi on Tirah Operation

The Change That Never Came: KP Citizens Suffer Under Failed Governance

Opinion /

I have observed the developments, as well as the Taliban’s flawed governance, in Afghanistan closely, and it is clear that internal disagreements within the Taliban, particularly between the Haqqani Network and the Kandahari faction, have long been a part of their political landscape. The recent BBC report highlighting these tensions should not be treated as

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From Tirah to Kabul: Militancy, Political Ambiguity and the Fracturing of Power in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Opinion /

(Aqeel Yousafzai) The security crisis unfolding across Pakistan’s northwest and Afghanistan cannot be understood through isolated incidents or partisan slogans. It is a deeply interconnected story of militancy, political opportunism, state ambiguity and ideological fractures that now threaten to destabilise both countries simultaneously. Recent developments in Tirah Valley, the sharpening political divide in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

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When Unity Becomes a Myth: Inside the Taliban’s Growing Internal Crisis

Opinion /

(Shamim Shahid) The recent investigative report by the BBC has pulled back the curtain on what many regional observers, journalists, and intelligence analysts have long suspected but few within the Taliban leadership had openly acknowledged: deep and potentially destabilising internal divisions within the Afghan Taliban. For the first time since the Taliban’s return to power

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, National Action Plan, North Waziristan, Pakistan, NAP Gap

Revisiting the National Action Plan in a Changing Security Landscape

Opinion /

(Zahir Shah Sherazi) More than a decade has passed since Pakistan adopted the National Action Plan (NAP) in the aftermath of the Army Public School tragedy in December 2014. Announced with the promise of ending terrorism “across the board,” the 21-point framework was meant to be a comprehensive national consensus against militancy, extremism, terror financing,

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the Brink: Governance Paralysis, Security Collapse and the Politics of Distraction

Opinion /

(Mushtaq Yusufzai)  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today stands at a dangerous crossroads where worsening security challenges intersect with an alarming vacuum of governance. For more than two years, the province has been sliding back into an atmosphere that many feared had been left behind after immense sacrifices by the state, security forces and civilians. Instead of decisive

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Militancy, Protests in Iran, Poverty in Afghanistan, PTI & Terrorist Attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and the Regional Peace

Militancy, Protests and Poverty: The Regional Storm Pakistan Faces

Opinion /

The security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, militancy, reached a point where no single day passes without tragic news from one district or another. Attacks, targeted killings, armed clashes and bombings have become a grim routine, particularly in the southern belt of the province. From Lakki Marwat to Dera Ismail Khan, from Bannu to North and

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