PAKISTAN: Taliban Stop Civilians From Leaving

Thousands of people are stranded in violence-wracked Swat and Buner districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) because the Pakistan Taliban have refused to allow them passage to safer places.

POLITICS-US: Officials Admit Pakistanis Reject U.S. Priorities

The advances of the Taliban insurgents beyond the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in recent weeks and the failure of the Pakistani military to counter them have brought a rare moment of truth for top national security officials of the Barack Obama administration.

POLITICS-US: Af-Pak Troubles Coming to a Head

Despite an overhaul of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, it appears that the U.S. strategy there is running into obstacles as varied as the U.S. Congress and the leaders of those countries, who are both visiting Washington this week.

PAKISTAN: Entering a “Bloody Phase”

Alarm bells are ringing in Washington, with the U.S. fretting over what could happen if the "worst, the unthinkable" were to happen and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), toppled the country's year-old democratic government and got hold of its nuclear arsenal.

PAKISTAN: Military Crackdown on Taliban Uproots Civilians

Thousands of civilians are continuing to migrate to safer places from Upper Dir and Buner districts - the new theatres of an internal war between Pakistan’s Taliban and the military in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

U.S.: Major Foreign Tests Likely Over Next 100 Days

While Barack Obama has clearly improved Washington's image abroad during his first 100 days in office, the next 100 will almost certainly prove much more challenging for the new president's foreign policy.

US: Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in Military

Sexual assault of women serving in the U.S. military, while brought to light in recent reports, has a long tradition in that institution.

RIGHTS: Recruiters of Child Soldiers Defy U.N. Pressure

The United Nations remains virtually helpless as an increasing number of armed groups - described as "non-state actors" - continue to exploit, abuse and deliberately harm children in battle zones in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

RIGHTS-US: Bracing for New Prisoner Abuse Photos

This Tuesday, Apr. 28, will mark five years since the world got its first look at the sickening photographs from Abu Ghraib on the U.S. television programme "60 Minutes."

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Back to School in Swat, But for How Long?

Tiny Sheema is happy to be back in school in Swat, a volatile northern district in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

RIGHTS-US: Senate Report Casts Grim Light on Bush Era

Pentagon interrogators continuously ramped up their abusive techniques against prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan in a vain attempt to establish a link between the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. on Sep. 11, 2001.

POLITICS: U.S. Lacks Capacity to Win Over Afghans

President Barack Obama and other top officials in his administration have made it clear that there can be no military solution in Afghanistan, and that the non-military efforts to win over the Afghan population will be central to its chances of success.

POLITICS: Errant Drone Attacks Spur Militants in Pakistan

The U.S. programme of drone aircraft strikes against higher-ranking officials of al Qaeda and allied militant organisations, which has been touted by proponents as having eliminated nine of the 20 top al Qaeda leaders, is actually weakening Pakistan’s defence against the insurgency of the Islamic militants there by killing large numbers of civilians based on faulty intelligence and discrediting the Pakistani military, according to data from the Pakistani government and interviews with senior analysts.

ENVIRONMENT-AFGHANISTAN: Smog Adds to Kabul’s Hazards

On any given day, a pall of smog and dust hangs over Kabul's streets. It clings to the face, burns the eyes, and stains the hands. It bathes the cars, often stuck bumper-to-bumper in traffic, and occludes the view of the distant mountains.

POLITICS-US: New Budget, Not Quite a Fundamental Shift

Secretary of Defence Robert Gates unveiled the U.S.’s much-anticipated new military budget Monday, which aims to reorient the armed forces toward irregular and counterinsurgency warfare while proposing cuts in several major weapons programs.

EUROPE: Scrambling to get it Right on Afghanistan

As NATO prepares to celebrate its 60th year, Europe's somewhat fractured Afghanistan policy, which will feature large in discussions at the organisation's anniversary summit this weekend, needs to improve significantly if it is to gain any credibility in the region, say policy experts in Brussels.

RIGHTS: U.S. Judge Gives Bagram Prisoners Right to Appeal

In what could become an historic decision, a federal judge has ruled that non-Afghan citizens rendered by the U.S. to Bagram prison in Afghanistan have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

PAKISTAN: Another Terror Attack For TV Cameras

The brazen armed attack on a police academy near Lahore on Monday underlines the danger that the Pakistani state faces from militancy linked to the ‘war on terror', but with historic roots in the earlier Afghan war of liberation from Soviet occupation, or ‘jihad' against ‘God-less communists'.

PAKISTAN: Under Siege by Taliban

Authorities in Pakistan have vowed to deal sternly with Taliban militants who have this month mounted a series of deadly attacks apparently aimed at weakening this country that has close links with neighbouring Afghanistan.

POLITICS-US: Some Strategists Cast Doubt on Afghan War Rationale

The argument for deeper U.S. military commitment to the Afghan War invoked by President Barack Obama in his first major policy statement on Afghanistan and Pakistan Friday - that al Qaeda must be denied a safe haven in Afghanistan - has not been subjected to public debate in Washington.

U.S.: Obama Affirms New Focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan

In what marks a significant escalation in U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Barack Obama Friday outlined what he called a "comprehensive, new strategy" for the two countries to fight al Qaeda and its local allies.