Beitullah Mehsud Claims Responsibility for Manawan Police Attack

On Tuesday, media outlets reported that Beitullah Mehsud, the head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the Manawan police academy in Punjab province, which killed at least 13 people, including at least eight recruits and instructors, and wounded more than 100. Mehsud reportedly told Reuters by telephone, “Yes, we have carried out [...]

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Breaking News: Pakistan Police Academy Attacked

Media outlets are reporting that a police training academy near Lahore was attacked by gunmen today, killing 8 and wounding many, although BBC News reported there has been “no official confirmation of the casualties.” GEO News reported, “According to sources, unknown attackers threw hand grenades at the Police Training School in Manawan after which exchange [...]

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Obama Announces New Afghanistan/Pakistan Strategy

President Obama unveiled his new Afghanistan strategy to reporters today, after a “careful policy review” led by Brookings Institution‘s Bruce Reidel. In his speech, Obama asserted the situation “is increasingly perilous,” and sought to answer the questions, “What is our purpose in Afghanistan?” and “Why do our men and women fight and still die there?” [...]

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Suicide Bombing at Mosque Kills 48

Breaking news today: Media outlets are reporting that 48 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque near the town of Jamrud in the Khyber agency in northwest Pakistan. Tariq Hayat, the top administration official in Khyber, told the AFP, “Forty-eight bodies have been pulled out of the debris and [...]

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Everyone Poops

My friend, who works for the Water & Sanitation Program at the World Bank, passed along a short animated film they just produced on sanitation issues [read: poop] in Pakistan. Aside from my joking title, [a throwback to the fantastic children's book, Everyone Poops] sanitation issues are a very serious problem in the developing world, [...]

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What Are They Really Thinking…

We all know a picture is worth a thousand words, but how often do you look at [candid] photos of our Pakistani politicians and wonder what they’re really thinking? WordPress very conveniently added the “write your own caption” function recently, and I just couldn’t help myself. The photo is of PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and [...]

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Happy Pakistan Day!

Pakistan has always been a focal point in the news media, but I feel like some pretty hefty stories and statements have surfaced in the last few days. Here are the ones I found most noteworthy: David Kilcullen, U.S. CENTCOM adviser to Gen. David Petraeus warned, “The Pakistani state could collapse within six months if [...]

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U.S. Drone Attacks to Target Balochistan?

A few days ago, the NY Times reported that President Obama and his national security advisers “are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Balochistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan.” Senior administration officials [...]

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Mukhtar Mai Gets Hitched

On Sunday, media outlets reported that Mukhtar Mai married Nasir Abbas Gabol in Muzaffargarh district in Punjab. Mai told the Associated Press, “When you get married, you have to have faith in your partner and his family. I will try to cooperate with them…You know, I never said that I would not marry, I said [...]

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Kashf: The Lifting of the Veil – An Interview with Ayesha Khan

Produced by Indus Valley Productions, Kashf- The Lifting of the Veil is Pakistan’s first English-language feature film in 30 years. The movie explores Sufism – the mystical side of Islam – through the eyes of Armaghan, who was born after an oath his mother made to a Sufi Pir when she was childless. Armaghan’s mother [...]

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