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☆ ISIS-K, Group Tied to Moscow Attack, Has Grown Bolder and More Violent
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Few know better than the Taliban what a relentless foe the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan can be. Much of the West considers the Taliban, which reclaimed power in the country in 2021, to be an extremist Islamic movement. But the Islamic State Khorasan, the affiliate that took responsibility for a terrorist attack in suburban Moscow on Friday, has slammed the Taliban government, calling the group’s version of Islamic rule insufficiently hard-line. The Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is one of the last significant antagonists that the Taliban face in Afghanistan. In the months after the Taliban seized power, ISIS-K carried out near daily attacks on their soldiers at roadside checkpoints and in neighborhoods that are home to the country’s Hazara ethnic minority.

Persons: Pakistan’s Organizations: West Locations: Afghanistan, State Khorasan, Moscow, Hazara, Russian, Kabul

☆ Pakistani Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill at Least 8, Taliban Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistan launched two airstrikes into Afghanistan on Monday morning that killed at least eight people, Afghan officials said, escalating simmering tensions between the two countries. The pre-dawn strikes were carried out in the Paktika and Khost provinces in eastern Afghanistan around 3 a.m., Afghan officials said. Three children were among those killed, according to Taliban officials, who condemned the strikes as a violation of Afghan territory. Pakistani officials have blamed militants harbored on Afghan soil and protected by the Taliban administration for the attacks. Taliban officials have denied those claims.

Persons: Zabihullah Mujahid, “ Locations: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Khost

☆ An Election Shatters the Image of Pakistan’s Mightiest Force
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The intimidating myth of an all-powerful military in Pakistan has been smashed in public view. Now comes another searing rebuke: Voters turned out in droves this month for candidates aligned with the expelled leader, Imran Khan, despite a military crackdown on his party. The political jockeying and unrest have left Pakistan, already reeling from an economic crisis, in a turbulent muddle. But one thing is clear: The military — long respected and feared as the ultimate authority in this nuclear-armed country of 240 million people — is facing a crisis. Its rumblings can be heard in once unthinkable ways, out in the open, among a public that long spoke of the military establishment only in coded language.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan’s, ’ Locations: Pakistan

☆ Who Are the Major Players After Pakistan’s Stunning Election?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Alan Yuhas | Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The stunning election success of a party whose leader is in jail has set off a political crisis in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 240 million people. The stakes are high: Pakistanis face soaring inflation and costs of living, frequent blackouts, resurgent terrorist attacks and tense relations with their neighbors. Imran Khan: The jailed leaderImran Khan, a former prime minister and cricket star, has been sentenced to 34 years in prison on charges that include leaking state secrets and unlawful marriage. He is barred from holding office, and his supporters call the charges, which he denies, an effort by the military to silence its leading critic. In the election last week, candidates aligned with Mr. Khan won more seats in Parliament than any other group — but still fell short of forming a majority on their own.

Persons: Imran Khan, Mr, Khan Locations: Pakistan

☆ The Rise, and Fall, and Rise Again of Imran Khan
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Pakistan’s government censored the media, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party posted campaign videos on TikTok. When the police barred his supporters from holding rallies, they hosted virtual gatherings online. And when Mr. Khan ended up behind bars, his supporters produced speeches using artificial intelligence to simulate his voice. The success of candidates aligned with Mr. Khan’s party in last week’s election — snagging more seats than any other in Parliament — was a stunning upset in Pakistani politics. Since Mr. Khan fell out with the country’s generals and was ousted by Parliament in 2022, his supporters had faced a military-led crackdown that experts said was designed to sideline the former prime minister.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan, — Locations: Pakistan

☆ Shocking Opposition Victory Throws Pakistan Into Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The party of the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, won the most seats in parliamentary elections this week, delivering a strong rebuke to the country’s powerful generals and throwing the political system into chaos. Never before in the country’s history has a politician seen such success in an election without the backing of the generals — much less after facing their iron fist. In voting on Thursday, candidates from Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., appeared to win about 97 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, the country’s election commission reported on Saturday. The military’s preferred party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or P.M.L.N., led by a three-time former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, won at least 73 seats, the commission said. Only seven seats were left unaccounted for — not enough to change the outcome as reported by the commission.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan’s, —, Nawaz Sharif Organizations: National Assembly, Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Locations: Pakistan

☆ Pakistan Is Stunned as Early Election Results Look Like a Real Race
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistani voters on Friday were anxiously awaiting the final results of a national election that has stunned many in the country by denying Pakistan’s powerful military a widely expected landslide victory for its preferred party. That party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, remained the front-runner as preliminary totals trickled in a day after the voting. But the prolonged uncertainty made clear that the military, long the guiding hand in Pakistani politics, had failed in its heavy-handed effort to gut a rival party affiliated with another former prime minister, Imran Khan. The tight races may constitute as close to an upset as possible in a country where the military is the ultimate authority. They reflected the deep, loyal base of support that Mr. Khan has cultivated since he was ousted by Parliament in 2022, as well as his unique ability to outmaneuver the military’s playbook for sidelining politicians who have fallen out of its favor.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan Organizations: Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Locations: Punjab

☆ A Polarized Pakistan Goes to the Polls With the Result All but Certain
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As voters headed to the polls on Thursday, the influence of Pakistan’s powerful military and the turbulent state of its politics were on full display. Few doubted which party would come out on top, a reflection of the generals’ ultimate hold on Pakistan’s troubled democracy. But the military is facing new challenges to its authority from a discontented public, making this an especially fraught moment in the nation’s history. The tension was underlined on Thursday as Pakistan’s Interior Ministry announced that it was suspending mobile phone service across the country because of the security situation. Some analysts in Pakistan cast it as an effort to keep opposition voters from getting information or coordinating activities.

Persons: —, ’ Organizations: Interior Ministry Locations: Pakistan

☆ It Was Once Pakistan’s Military Stronghold. Now Even It Has Had Enough.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As they head to the polls this week, residents in Pakistan’s most populous and affluent province are fed up. Just look around, they say: The economy is in free fall and inflation has soared. Everyone from young laborers to prominent influencers in the province, Punjab, have been jailed alongside him. And it’s become clear, many say, that a group once widely supported in Punjab is to blame: the country’s military. “We aren’t faulting the politicians anymore — now we know who to blame,” said Sibghat Butt, 29, a customer service representative in Lahore, the province’s capital.

Persons: —, ”, Sibghat Butt Locations: Pakistan’s, Punjab, Lahore, “

☆ What to Know About Pakistan’s Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistan heads to the polls on Thursday for an election that analysts say will be among the least credible in the country’s 76-year history, one that comes at a particularly turbulent moment for the nation. For nearly half of Pakistan’s existence, the military has ruled directly. This will be only the third democratic transition between civilian governments in Pakistan’s history. And it is the first national election since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from power after a vote of no confidence in 2022. Mr. Khan’s ouster — which he accused the military of orchestrating, though the powerful generals deny it — set off a political crisis that has embroiled the nuclear-armed nation for the past two years.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan’s, —, Nawaz Sharif Locations: Pakistan

The highway is the most politically charged slice of a politically turbulent country. It winds 180 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, through the fertile plains of Punjab Province to Lahore, the nation’s cultural and political heart. For centuries, it was known only as a sliver of the Grand Trunk Road, Asia’s longest and oldest thoroughfare, linking traders in Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. As Pakistan heads into national elections on Thursday, the road is buzzing. Politics dominates the chatter between its vendors and rickshaw drivers, their conversations seeped in a culture of conspiracy, cults of political personality and the problems of entrenched military control.

Locations: Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Punjab Province, Lahore, Central Asia, Pakistan

☆ Pakistan’s Military Has Swayed Many Elections. Now It’s Going Full Tilt.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tucked away on a patch of dying grass on the outskirts of Islamabad, the gathering hardly looked like a political rally at the height of an election season. There were no posters to promote a campaign, no microphones to deliver speeches, no sound system to amp up the crowd. Even the candidate, Aamir Mughal, was missing: He had gone into hiding months earlier, at the first signs of a military-led crackdown on his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I. The authorities had already raided his home, arrested two of his sons and lodged a case against him in connection with anti-military protests. in the first national election since the party’s leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, ran afoul of the generals and was ousted by Parliament in 2022.

Persons: Aamir Mughal, ” Mr, Mughal, “, Imran Khan Organizations: ” Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan

☆ Imran Khan Sentenced to 10 Years Ahead of Pakistan’s Elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday, the latest twist in what is widely seen as a campaign by the military to sideline one of its leading critics from politics. The sentence, which was delivered in a case in which Mr. Khan is accused of leaking state secrets, came about a week before Pakistan is set to head to the polls for the first national election since he was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April 2022. Analysts have called the election among the least credible in Pakistan’s 76-year history because of the military’s widespread crackdown on Mr. Khan and his supporters. His ouster set off a political showdown between Mr. Khan and the country’s powerful military, which has long been the invisible hand guiding the country’s politics. Mr. Khan and his supporters have accused military leaders of orchestrating his removal — an accusation they deny.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan Organizations: Analysts Locations: Pakistan

When Iran and Pakistan traded airstrikes this week, both targeting what they said were militant camps, the exchange raised fears that the upheaval sweeping the Middle East was moving into new territory. To Pakistan, which was hit first, it was important to send a clear message that violations of its sovereignty would not be tolerated. Pakistan signaled that it was seeking de-escalation by calling the two nations “brotherly countries” and urging dialogue and cooperation, language that Iran echoed in a statement of its own on Friday. Pakistan’s appeal, analysts said, underlined a plain fact: It could hardly be in a worse position to fight a war. And already at odds with its archrival India, it has seen a souring of its once-friendly relations with the Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan.

Organizations: archrival Locations: Iran, Pakistan, archrival India, Afghanistan

The two cousins spotted each other on the bus leaving the prison, as shocked to see the other as they were by their sudden freedom. “I need to know if this is a dream.”Then, early Sunday morning, the bus pulled out of Ofer Prison in the West Bank and into a throng of cheering Palestinians. “This is thanks to the resistance in Gaza,” Anwar said hours later from his family’s home on the outskirts of the city. Anwar and his cousin, Mourad Atta, 17, are among the 180 Palestinian teenagers and women freed from Israeli prisons in recent days, the largest such release of prisoners and detainees in more than a decade. The deal also included a temporary cease-fire in the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 13,000 people, according to Gazan officials.

Persons: ” Anwar Atta, “, Ofer, ” Anwar, Anwar, Mourad Atta Organizations: West Bank Locations: Ramallah, Gaza, Israel

Twelve of those newly released were among the roughly 75 people who had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7. Ruth is a retired hairdresser and seamstress, according to Kibbutz Nir Oz. Danielle Aloni; Amelia Aloni, 5Danielle Aloni and her daughter Amelia were taken hostage while visiting Ms. Aloni’s sister, Sharon Cunio, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz. She was kidnapped from her safe room in Kibbutz Nir Oz after her husband, Sa’id Moshe, was killed during the Hamas assault. Hanna Katzir, 76Ms. Katzir helped oversee child care in Kibbutz Nir Oz for many years, according to a niece, Dalit Katzenellenbogen, who lives in Tel Aviv.

Persons: —, Kibbutz Nir Oz, Keren Munder, Munder, Ruth Munder, Ohad Munder, Ruth, Abraham Munder, Nir Oz, Abraham’s, Roee, Ohad, Abraham, Keren, Danielle Aloni, Amelia Aloni, Amelia, Aloni’s, Sharon Cunio, Sharon, David Cunio, Emma, Yuli, ”, Aloni, Adina Moshe, Moshe, Sa’id Moshe, Naama Ben, Moshe’s, ” Yaffa, Adar, Tamir Adar, Hanna Katzir, Katzir, Katzenellenbogen, Elad Katzir, Rami, Hanna Peri, Peri, Ms, Margalit Moses, Moses, Doron Katz Asher, Raz Asher, Aviv Asher, Katz Asher, Raz, Efrat Katz, Katz, Yoni Asher, Asher, Khan Younis Organizations: Nirim Locations: Tel Aviv, Gaza, Israel, Kfar Saba, Palestinian, Nirim, South Africa, Norway, Mozambique

Hamas freed two dozen hostages held in Gaza and Israel released nearly 40 imprisoned Palestinians on Friday, completing the first exchange in a tense, temporary truce that halted the fighting after seven weeks of war. All the hostages freed by Hamas were expected to be swiftly moved to Israel to receive urgent medical care. Israel has said that it would extend the cease-fire by a day for every 10 additional hostages that Hamas releases. Hamas has not commented directly on the offer but its top political official, Ismail Haniyeh, said his group was committed to making the truce work. But it would also allow both Israel and Hamas to try to better their positions for battles to come.

Persons: Thais, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, President Biden Organizations: International Committee, Ministry, Hamas, Gaza, West Bank Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Qatar, United States

It was the moment the crowd outside the gates of Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah had awaited for hours: A large white bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees exited the prison gates and made its way through the crowd around 8 p.m. Friday. Throngs of Palestinians erupted in cheers while drivers revved their engines in celebration. Fireworks erupted, replacing the sounds of tear-gas canisters that Israeli security forces had fired to disperse the crowd throughout the afternoon. As the prisoners and detainees made their way to a nearby municipality building, hundreds of people raced alongside them, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags. Hanan Saleh al-Bargouthi, 59, who was among those released, hugged her husband and grandchildren as tears clouded her eyes.

Persons: Ofer, Throngs, ”, Hanan Saleh al Organizations: West Bank, Hamas Locations: Ramallah, Israel, Gaza

In the four decades since he fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, the man, Najmuddin Torjan, had been living illegally in Pakistan. He married there, had children and watched as they had children of their own. All the while, he felt the unease of making a life on borrowed land, seemingly on borrowed time. The Pakistani government abruptly declared that all foreign citizens living in the country without documents must leave by Nov. 1. Now I’m starting again from zero.”

Persons: Najmuddin Torjan, “, ”, Torjan, I’m Locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan

☆ Imran Khan’s 3-Year Sentence Is Suspended by Pakistan Appeals Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An appeals court in Pakistan suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s three-year prison sentence on Tuesday, the latest twist in a political showdown between Mr. Khan and leaders of the powerful military establishment who appear intent on sidelining him from politics. Mr. Khan had been arrested earlier this month after a trial court gave him the three-year term in a corruption case — a sentence that the Islamabad High Court suspended on Tuesday after an appeal by Mr. Khan’s legal team. It was not immediately clear on what grounds the court had suspended the sentence, or whether he would be promptly released from prison. The possibility that Mr. Khan could remain behind bars or be rearrested after he is released looms over him. He faces dozens of court cases, part of what he and his allies have characterized as a coordinated effort by the military to keep him out of politics.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan Organizations: Court Locations: Pakistan, Islamabad

As a child studying in a madrasa in Afghanistan, Mohammad Khalid Tahir dreamed of waging jihad. By the time he was a teenager, he had joined the Taliban and celebrated when they seized power from the U.S.-backed government two years ago. So this spring, he did — but across the border in Pakistan. “Our only expectation is to be martyred,” Mr. Tahir says in a video of him en route to Pakistan that was viewed by The New York Times. As a generation of fighters raised in war now finds itself stuck in a country at peace, hundredsof young Taliban soldiers have crossed illegally into Pakistan to battle alongside an insurgent group, according to Taliban members, local leaders and security analysts.

Persons: Mohammad Khalid Tahir, ” Mr, Tahir, hundredsof Organizations: “, The New York Times Locations: Afghanistan, U.S, Pakistan

The Pakistani government named a caretaker prime minister on Saturday, a move that kicks off preparations for the country’s next general elections and comes amid a year of political turmoil. The close ties that the new leader, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, has to the country’s powerful military reinforces its dominance over Pakistan’s politics, sending a clear message: After a year of political turmoil that challenged the authority of military leaders, they have a firm hand on the wheel once more. “He is undoubtedly a choice of the establishment,” Khalid Mahmood Rasool, a political analyst and newspaper columnist, said, referring to the military establishment. The term of the outgoing government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, who is also close the military, ended on Thursday. In Pakistan, once a government’s term ends, a caretaker must be established to oversee the next general elections.

Persons: Anwar, Haq Kakar, ” Khalid Mahmood Rasool, Shehbaz Sharif Locations: Pakistan

☆ Imran Khan Appeals Prison Sentence, Kicking Off High-Stakes Legal Battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The legal team for the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, appealed his three-year prison sentence on Wednesday, kicking off a high-stakes and hotly contested legal fight that will determine Mr. Khan’s future and the country’s political climate as it heads into general elections later this year. Mr. Khan was arrested and jailed on Saturday after being found guilty in a corruption case, the latest twist in a stunning downfall for the leader, who has been in a political showdown with the country’s powerful military since his ouster last year. His allies argue that the court verdict, which found him guilty of hiding assets after illegally selling state gifts, was little more than a politically motivated effort to sideline him. And for many Pakistanis, the spectacle of Mr. Khan’s imprisonment offered a striking reminder that the country’s military remains the ultimate and unmoving force behind Pakistan’s politics. In the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, his legal team argued that the conviction represented a violation of Mr. Khan’s “fundamental right to due process and fair trial” and said it was decided by a biased judge determined to convict him “irrespective of the merits of the case,” according to court documents.

Persons: Imran Khan, Khan’s, Khan Organizations: Court Locations: Pakistan, Islamabad

One man spent his childhood in the foothills of northeastern Afghanistan dreaming of being a soldier for the U.S.-backed government. The other secretly applied to a military academy — against his parents’ wishes — determined to prove himself on the battlefield. Both went on to have storied careers during the war and fled their country alongside other commandos when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The two men — Mr. Amir, 33, and Basir Andarabi, 35 — had bonded in exile over a shared resolve to retake their homeland. But the Taliban takeover was so sudden, so shocking, they could not accept defeat; it felt more like a chapter in the war than its epilogue.

Persons: ’, —, “, Akmal Amir, Mr, Amir, Basir Andarabi Organizations: U.S Locations: Afghanistan

☆ ISIS Affiliate Claims Responsibility for Deadly Attack at Rally in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Islamic State affiliate in South Asia claimed responsibility on Monday for a suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan that killed dozens of people and injured about 200 more, in the latest bloody sign of the deteriorating security situation in the country. The death toll from the explosion on Sunday, which targeted a political rally in the Bajaur district near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, rose to at least 54 people, Shaukat Abbas, a senior officer at the provincial police’s counterterrorism department, said on Monday. The Islamic State affiliate, known as the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed on Monday that a suicide bomber had carried out the attack, characterizing it as part of the group’s war against democracy as a system of government, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The blast was among the deadliest terrorist attacks in months in Pakistan, where some militant groups operating along the border with Afghanistan have become more active over the past year. The rise in violence represents a grim shift: Since 2014, when security forces carried out a major military operation to flush militants out of Pakistan, the country has experienced relative calm.

Persons: Shaukat Abbas Organizations: Islamic State, SITE Intelligence Group Locations: South Asia, Pakistan, Bajaur, Pakistan’s, Afghanistan, State Khorasan

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