UK MP blows the lid on MI5 torture secretsThe former UK Home Secretary has revealed how MI5 and police “effectively sub-contracted” the torture of a terror susepect to a Pakistani intelligence agency, with information previously suppressed by the government.
Pakistan
Cricket takes on the Taliban
Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket win has given a monumental boost to a nation drained of all morale, says Tunku Varadarajan. Can the sport offer an alternative vision for the country to militant Islam?
Welcome to Pakistan: one suicide bombing a week and counting!
In Darra Adam Khel, an arms-manufacturing town south of Peshawar where a stick of dynamite can be bought for less than an dollar, young men are queuing up for suicide bombings, writes Benjamin Gilmour.
Checking into Peshawar’s Pearl Continental, before it was blown to bits
Like the Marriot in Lahore, the Peshawar Pearl Continental was regarded as an oasis by expatriate diplomats and aid workers, by foreign correspondents, and by upper-class Pakistanis, writes Shakira Hussein.
Peshawar bombing: eyewitness accounts
BBC readers in Peshawar send in their accounts of the blast.
Massive hotel bomb further erodes security
The hotel suicide bombing in Peshawar further weakens the city’s security, making it a prime target for the Taliban.
A timeline of militant attacks in Pakistan
Reuters wrap the year so far in major terror attacks in Pakistan.
India must save Pakistan from itself
New Delhi needs to urgently help shore up the civilian government in Islamabad, says Jug Suraiya. And what better way than by finally converting the Line of Control in Kashmir into an officially recognised international border?
Pakistan’s government must conquer the north-west
For all the fallout — including fresh bombings in the north-west — Pakistan’s government was right to take military action to drive the Taliban from Swat. It must push on.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan diary: Taliban ups the ante
“The Taliban’s tactic now, according to many analysts here, will be to attack as many of Pakistan’s cities as possible”, writes Khan. It’s all about pressuring the government into a ceasefire deal.
Taliban blasts kill at least 8 in north-west Pakistan
The Taliban has fought back in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, an area where the government has launched a massive operation against the militants. This comes after it claimed responsibility for an attack in Lahore that killed at least 27 people.
Taliban warns Pakistanis, then detonates four bombs
Three bombs detonated in Peshawar, north of Pakistan’s capital, and one in Dera Ismail Khan, in the country’s troubled west on Thursday, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens.
As Taliban rises, life gets worse for Pakistan’s women
If you need proof that Pakistan’s Taliban are rising, just ask the women and girls, who are increasingly under threat from a “fear campaign” as a result of the growing militant presence.
Fatima Bhutto: I thought we were friends!
If the US wants to give money to unstable nuclear regimes like Pakistan’s, maybe it should cozy up to others as well — North Korea could use a little all-American can-do support, writes Fatima Bhutto.
Taliban’s popularity rises after massacre of the Pashtuns
Thousands of injured and starving Pashtuns fell in droves from the mountains of the Hindu Kush this week. Benjamin Gilmour listens to their stories.
Inside Pakistan’s Jalozai refugee camp: an eyewitness account
Jalozai refugee camp is once again packed with destitute people. Shakira Hussein remembers visiting the camp in 2000 and 2001, to interview its previous inhabitants.
30% chance of coup in Pakistan, say analysts
A top private risk analysis firm gave embattled Pakistan a three-in-ten chance of a military
coup even before the latest offensive by Taliban rebels.
How the Taliban could out-manoeuvre the US
Despite sending in 20,000 new troops to Afghanistan, the Taliban’s stronghold on the Pakistan-Afghan border could still prove insurmountable for the US.
Pakistan will give no quarter
With a showdown between the Taliban and Pakistan looming in Swat Valley, residents are fleeing: they know Pakistan’s army will use maximum firepower and overwhelming force.
World Press Freedom Day: Australian needs to lift its game
On Monday, we mark World Press Freedom Day, which should give us pause this year as we reflect on how precious freedom of expression can be, and how easily it can be denied, writes Chris Warren.
The big steal: looking back at a famous Pakistan win
A flashback to 15 years ago, when Pakistan famously put one over Australia in Karachi.
Pakistan hired cooks and drivers as guards for Oz series
The private security guards hired by the Pakistan cricket chiefs for Pakistan-Australia One-day series in United Arab Emirates may have only been a bunch of car drivers and cooks.
Taliban just 70 miles from Islamabad
Taliban militants are pushing deeper into Pakistan, established control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from Islamabad.
