Abubakar Siddique, a journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, specializes in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan.
Two decades after the Red Army left Afghanistan, another superpower is embroiled in a complicated conflict in the land known as the "graveyard of empires." With unrest on the rise and the U.S. mulling a major troop increase, are there troubling parallels?
Pakistan has for the first time acknowledged that the coordinated terrorist attacks that killed 179 people in Mumbai, India, in November were plotted at least in part on Pakistani soil. In an announcement made today in Islamabad, authorities also said most of the those suspected of planning the attacks have been arrested.
Richard Holbrooke, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders on tackling extremism in the region. Holbrooke says that to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan, a new approach is required, with Pakistan playing a pivotal role.
Just days after announcing the postponement of Afghanistan's presidential poll, the Independent Election Commission finds itself amidst a storm of controversy. Parliament accuses it of overstepping its legal authority, while politicians are warning of a crisis that could harm the country's fragile democracy.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have different views of how to combat extremism in the region, but their approaches may be growing closer.
Facing growing public anger over the rising civilian death toll from the war in Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has proposed a solution -- increasing Afghanistan's supervision over U.S. and NATO military operations on its territory.
Due to a change in plans, Afghanistan will now hold its presidential election in the summer. But from icy Kabul to sunny California, dozens of potential candidates have already made clear their intention to run.
Veteran U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke sees his new assignment as the Obama administration's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan as "daunting," but that may be an understatement. Regional experts say Holbrooke, who in a similar role brokered the Dayton Peace Accords in the mid-1990s, will face an even greater challenge than he did in the Balkans.
There is fresh debate over whether America's "war on terror" requires sweeping changes, or even a complete overhaul. Afghanistan could be a litmus test for any new approach the Obama administration employs.
As U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden returns to Washington, Afghan streets are filled with rumors about the implications of his visit there. Opponents of Hamid Karzai claim the Afghan president will not enjoy cozy relations under the incoming administration of Barack Obama, and that he may even be on his way out.
In an unprecedented show of solidarity, the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan have pledged joint efforts in combating terrorism, which they declared a menace to regional peace and stability. The move came during Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's first official visit to Afghanistan.
Residents of Pakistan's western Pashtun border regions are suddenly facing the threat of severe punishment, including the death penalty, for acts ranging from drinking alcohol to sending their daughters to school. The new restrictions are the work of the Taliban, which has established Shari'a law in territory under its control. Local political leaders say the Taliban's moves are an attempt to establish a parallel government in the region.
Turkey has launched its first 24-hour Kurdish-language television station, in what is seen as a marked shift of policy toward the country's Kurdish minority, whose language was officially banned as recently as 1991.
Local officials say the main highway linking Peshawar to the border town of Torkham has been shut down until the operation, which began today, is complete.
The head of the global police agency Interpol and the U.S. military's highest-ranking officer both traveled to Islamabad this week as part of continuing efforts to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan. Interpol's Ronald Noble's visit followed Admiral Mike Mullen's meetings with Pakistani officials, and both appear aimed at urging Islamabad to cooperate with India following the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
The U.S. ambassador to the UN has said Washington and Kabul need to reach out to moderate Taliban members if stability is to be achieved in Afghanistan. Zalmay Khalilzad made the comments in an interview with CNN after the United States announced plans to send between 20,000 and 30,000 extra troops to the country's insurgency-plagued south and southeast by mid-2009.
With increased Taliban attacks, being a truck driver along Pakistan's Khyber Pass is an increasingly dangerous occupation. Now, an alliance of truck owners has announced it will no longer make deliveries for NATO along the main overland supply route.
The spotlight is on Jamaat-ud-Dawa after the UN has formally linked the Pakistan-based charity organization and its leader to a recognized terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. RFE/RL's Abubakar Siddique looks at the charity's origins and its alleged ties to militants.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari are meeting in Istanbul for the second set of talks sponsored by Turkey in an effort to bring the two neighbors closer.
A U.S. commission says that only decisive action by the international community can save the world from terrorists using weapons of mass destruction in the near future. The commission is urging the incoming U.S. administration to pay particular attention to Pakistan as a country where the terrorists might get their hands on weapons of mass destruction.
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