Law & Paneir

  IN the previous article, we spoke about the two major groups fighting over supremacy in Afghanistan after the departure of US troops in August. Now, we will talk about the other smaller yet also powerful organisations which are also eyeing for leadership roles in the country. The Haqqani Network Making things worse, parts of the Haqqani Network, which has been assimilated into the Taliban, are said to have collaborated with ISIS-K. The Haqqani Network is named after the group’s head, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who first battled the Soviet Army in Afghanistan while living in sanctuary in North Waziristan. With four members of the Haqqani Network are designated as Cabinet members, the Haqqani Network has emerged as the most powerful group in the new Taliban Government. They are Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Refugee Minister Khalil-Ur-Rehman Haqqani, Communication Minister Najibullah Haqqani, and Sheikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani  (Higher Education Minister). The former ...

  THE last C-17 military cargo plane departed Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug 30, as part of the US troops’ withdrawal plan from Afghanistan, which began gradually in February. This apparently brought the US’s longest conflict to a close. Many leaders from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries welcomed this as a victory for the Taliban, while others viewed it as a defeat for the “mighty” US, citing its failure in the Vietnam War as an example. The perception was that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, things would rebound, but that did not happen. The terrorist attacks Taliban has been attacked by other terrorist groups such as Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), which opposes Taliban doctrine and leaders, in various parts of Afghanistan since September. Not only were Taliban militants killed but also innocent individuals including children and women. They were perceived as collateral damage. On September 18, at leas...

SINCE beginning of the month, Afghanistan is under siege. Since the US troops withdrew from the country, which was celebrated by the Taliban and several leaders from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, many leaders are now puzzled with the ongoing assault on the minorities and sectarian violence taking place there. Despite the fact that the US retreat was heavily criticised by the international community, there is no doubt, a grand strategy behind it. And the world will know what that strategy is and why the pullback is so precipitous in the coming years. The war on terror The objective of the war on terror is to apprehend and remove perpetrators, particularly the leaders of terrorist organisations. The assassination of Osama Bin Laden in 2011 marked the beginning of the US’ decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. According to the Costs of War project at Brown University, the US has spent US$8 tril on post-9/11 wars, including in Afghanistan and Ira...

Sir David Amess, a Conservative MP from Essex, was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery yesterday, in what police are treating as a terrorist attack. It was a regular surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where he meets with his constituents regularly. He passed away on the spot. A constituency surgery, also known as a constituency clinic in the UK, is a series of one-on-one meetings between a MP and constituents. Ali Harbi Ali, a British national of Somali origin, is the 25-year old terrorist who took away Amess’ life. This attack was linked to Islamic extremism, according to the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command. A few years ago, he was sent to the counter-terrorist Prevent scheme, which was aimed at preventing people from becoming radicalised. To the uninitiated, Prevent is the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy. Ali was never a formal subject of interest, according to MI5. The MI5, or military intelligence, Section 5, is the UK’s do...