Last Updated 3/13/09 12:30 PM EST At least 24 people were killed today when four missiles fired from US drones hit a residential building in Barjo, Kurram Agency. Local officials characterized the building as a "militant hideout" and said it had been completely...
Shoe-Throwing Journalist Sentenced to Three Years
Muntadar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who went from obscurity to folk hero status in December when he threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush, was sentenced to three years in jail today for "attempting to assault a foreign leader." Zeidi said his behavior...
Clashes as Long March Begins in Karachi
The Long March began today in the cities of Karachi and Quetta, and already the government is out in force to disrupt the protest. Police attacked lawyers and political activists at Toll Plaza in Karachi, arresting several high ranking leaders of opposition parties...
Officials: Top Taliban Leader Was at Gitmo
Mullah Abdullah Zakir is the Taliban leader in charge of operations in southern Afghanistan, the central front in the growing nationwide insurgency. But anonymous officials told the Associated Press today that the Mullah has a very interesting backstory. He got his...
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran Conduct Joint Drug Crackdown
Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have reportedly conducted their first joint anti-narcotics operation this week along the three nations' mutual borders. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said that the operation resulted in a seizure and the arrests of...
US Struggles to Downplay Threat After Major Iraq Bombings
A US military spokesman in Baghdad today insisted that militants "are greatly reduced in capacity and numbers," just one day after a bombing at the reconciliation conference in Iraq killed 33 people. The bombing was the second major attack in Baghdad this week - the...
Opposition Figures Scramble, Criticize Amid Pakistan Crackdown
The imposition of emergency rule across much of Pakistan this week has led to a mixture of responses from opposition figures, ranging from condemnation to warnings and efforts by President Asif Ali Zardari to defend what many are seeing as a rather blatant power grab....
Will Govt Crackdown Derail Pakistan’s Long March?
Despite claims from the Deputy Chairman of Planning that the government intends to stop the rally "at all costs" and the Punjab Home Secretary saying the army would be called in, organizers say Pakistan's long-awaited "long march" will go ahead as planned tomorrow....
Emergency Rule, Mass Arrests Leave Pakistan on the Brink
Last Updated 3/11/09 10:30 PM EST With the Afghan frontier in a near constant state of insurrection, and separatist movements remaining a top concern in Balochistan, the twin provinces of Sindh and Punjab have been the stable, safe part of Pakistan. That now appears...
Sharif Placed Under House Arrest
Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz have been placed under house arrest today as the national government attempts to consolidate its authority in the Punjab Province against growing popular unrest. The move was just the first step in a...