Pakistani troops have been helping evacuate children from the school At least 100 people, 80 of them children, have been killed in a Taliban assault on an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistani officials say. Five or six militants wearing security uniforms entered the school, officials said. Gunfire and explosions were heard as security forces surrounded the area. The army says most of the school’s 500 students have been evacuated. It […]

Pakistan is placed eighth in the list of the most dangerous countries in the world which is led by Iraq, according to a US-based intelligence think tank.  Afghanistan, the only other South Asian country in the list, is placed fourth in the Country Threat Index (CTI) compiled yesterday by IntelCenter, a washington-based company working for intelligence agencies.  The rankings were prepared after examining the volume of terrorist and rebel alerts, […]

Washington: In a blunt assessment of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, the Pentagon has told the US Congress that the country is using militant groups as proxies to counter the superior Indian military. “Afghan and Indian focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of Afghan and regional stability. Pakistan uses these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s […]

Wagah Border: At least 55 people, including 11 women and three security personnel, were killed and nearly 200 injured when a suicide attacker detonated a powerful bomb at Wagah in Pakistan on Sunday evening, minutes after the popular flag- lowering ceremony at the main Indo-Pak land border crossing. “A large number of people were returning after watching Rangers flag ceremony at Wagah border when a suicide bomber blew himself up […]

Karachi: In a fresh rant against India, Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto vowed to wrest Kashmir from India. “When I raise Kashmir, the entire Hindustan screams. They know when a Bhutto speaks, they (Indians) have no answer,” the 26-year-old Bhutto scion said during his first public rally here yesterday. “We will take back Kashmir from India,” he said amidst thundering applause by thousands of supporters at mausoleum of Pakistan’s […]

Pakistan has banned The Da Vinci Code, which has been the subject of protests from members of Pakistan’s small Christian community. Culture Minister Ghulam Jamal said the film was blasphemous. The screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s book revolves around the theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and their descendants survive today. A number of states in India have banned the film, although the federal censors have cleared it for release. […]

India’s recent debacles on the hockey turf prompted even their most die-hard fans to lose faith in the team. The eight Olympic gold medals were no longer an inspiration, but millstones around the current players’ necks. Indian hockey desperately needed to script a new success story to ensure the game stayed relevant for enthusiasts. Thursday night at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium provided such an opportunity, and skipper Sardar Singh and […]

In September 2013 I wrote about how the battle between the Taliban and the Pakistani government lay in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. If that urban centre burned, the whole country might as well burn with it. Up till now the government’s offer of talks exposed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as unreasonable and illogical, but the government persisted – one unable and the other unwilling to accept the idea that perhaps […]

Pakistan is facing international travel restrictions because of an uncontrolled outbreak of polio. But unless vaccinators gain unfettered access to North Waziristan, where the Taliban are in control and have banned the vaccine, it will be hard to stem the spread of the disease, reports Kim Ghattas. In a Peshawar hospital, two-year-old Gul [his name has been changed for safety reasons] is getting a check-up. He screams when his legs […]

ISLAMABAD — Most didn’t notice the new library at this Islamic seminary for girls near Pakistan’s capital, until locals saw the paper sign in Urdu posted on its wooden door: “Library of Osama bin Laden, the Martyr.” Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, a radical preacher who runs the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, wanted to honor the memory of the al-Qaida leader, killed in a May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs on […]