Trading Across the Line of Control

As part of recent confidence building measures aimed at minimising tensions between India and Pakistan, which arose largely due to conflicting claims over Kashmir, the two countries have decided to make the Valley an economic bridge, rather than a bone of contention.

Cultivating Toxic Crops

At a time when spiraling input costs and perennial shortages of irrigation water are breaking countless farmers’ backs, a small village community on the outskirts of Lahore appears to have been spared.

From Arms to Alms

Most families of Taliban men killed in fighting against the army in Pakistan or in Afghanistan have been reduced to living in abject poverty.

Report Claims No Pakistani Civilian Deaths from Drones in 2012

Civilian deaths due to drone strikes in Pakistan are falling rapidly, and the death rate is now close to zero - or so asserts a New America Foundation (NAF) report.

Truckers Celebrate NATO Resumption

“I’m happy that I will be resuming work soon,” says Zarbistan Khan, who owns and drives a tanker that takes oil from the southern port city Karachi to Afghanistan. But the joy comes under the shadow of a Taliban threat to attack supply convoys.

New U.S.-Pakistani Supply Accord Seen as Tenuous

As NATO supply convoys began crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months Thursday, analysts here warned that the reopening of the key route does not necessarily signal a new dawn in the fraught relations between Washington and Islamabad.

Fishermen Caught on a Political Hook

“The number will never come to zero and in a few months you will see as many captive fishermen, maybe even more to fill the prison barracks,” says Mohammad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), following the release of more than 300 Indian fishermen from Pakistani jails.

U.S. Aid Policies in Pakistan Resulting in Anti-U.S. Sentiment

Despite President Barack Obama's stated policy of using foreign aid to improve public perception of the United States in Pakistan, two major new reports suggest that U.S. policies are exacerbating an already soured relationship.

Osama’s Shadow Haunts Doctor

Concerns are mounting over the safety of Dr. Shakil Afridi in Peshawar jail. Afridi is alleged to have given information and DNA evidence to the U.S. authorities that led to identification and then the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Where Journalism Is a Battlefront

“It does not matter if we ever find out who killed Saleem; whoever it was has destroyed my family,” says Anita Shahzad, Saleem Shahzad’s 36-year-old widow and mother of three. “It won’t bring him back,” she tells IPS.

King of Fruit Reaps Few Rewards for Pakistani Farmers

In the summer heat, fresh mangos are the fruit of choice for politicians seeking to exchange favours with foreign dignitaries. But when it comes to global trade, the prospects of the so-called king of fruit are limited.

Pakistanis Blame CIA for Fresh Polio Cases

Pakistan’s efforts to contain polio in areas bordering Afghanistan may have received a setback following the conviction of a doctor who allegedly ran a fake vaccine programme to locate Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

U.S.-Pakistan Talks on NATO Supply Lines Stopped

Six weeks of talks between Pakistan and the United States have been halted, a Defence Department official stated here on Monday.

Taliban Seek Support ‘in Rushdie’s Name’

Taliban members have resorted to invoking fictitious links of academics with writer Salman Rushdie in a bid to boost their popularity.

Doctor’s Tale Injects New Trouble

The sentencing of the Pakistani doctor believed to have provided the U.S. with vital DNA evidence that led to the tracing and killing of Osama bin Laden has set off new conflicts within Pakistan. The Taliban are now out to get him beyond what the law can.

Vaccination – Pakistan’s Missing Shots

The deaths of 20 children in an outbreak of measles in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Agency (FATA) are raising concerns over the state of immunisation in the conflict-ridden areas along the Afghanistan border.

The Political Drones Get Louder

Growing numbers of activists are beginning to counter U.S. Drone attacks into Pakistani territory. The activists are confronting the U.S., but increasingly now the Pakistani government for allowing such attacks to continue.

Controversy and Deadly Destruction Arising from Drone Use

Grasshoppers and other insects might become the next generation of drones, if researchers with the Israeli research centre Technion who are studying the movements of these insects succeed. Ultimately, they hope to be able to remotely control where the insects fly.

U.S Government Admits to Drone Attacks

In a major address here Monday, John Brennan, the U.S. official in charge of counterterrorism, formally admitted that the United States engages in attacks using armed unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as "drones".

Pakistan PM Found Guilty in Contempt Case

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been convicted by the country's Supreme Court of having committed contempt of court in a case that could see him expelled from office.

‘Anti-Terror’ Laws Haunt Pakistan’s Unionists

As International Labour Day approaches, rights groups in Pakistan are redoubling their efforts to win freedom for six incarcerated union leaders in Faisalabad, the country’s textile hub, who are currently serving a combined jail term of 590 years for supposedly violating the country’s ‘anti-terror’ laws.