By Ben Farmer, Doha James Dobbins was expected at the Afghan president’s palace after flying from Qatar, with the US still trying to soothe Afghan anger over last week’s opening of a Taliban political office in the Gulf state. The veteran diplomat, who is Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, must also revive long-running security talks with Kabul after they were cancelled by ...

By Reuters A White House statement said Mr Obama and Mr Karzai held a video conference call in which they also talked about US and Afghan plans for the handover of security to Afghan forces as US troops seek to exit by the end of 2014. A brazen assault by Taliban militants on Tuesday cast doubt on attempts at peace talks. ...

From Express Tribune  LAHORE: Asma Jahangir will lead the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) high level fact finding mission to Balochistan in light of Saturday’s terrorist attacks in Quetta and Ziarat. In the press statement made on Tuesday, HRCP strongly condemned the attacks and went on to add that the attacks have greater significance in light of the recent political changes ...

By Mahvish Ahmad When the Pakistan state looks at Balochistan–from Islamabad, or Raiwind, or Lahore, or from the commercial capital, Karachi–it assumes it has the right to decide how events in the country’s largest province ought to be interpreted. Certainly, it has had the power to silence the Baloch in the mainstream national conversation. Sometimes, the muffling of Baloch voices is ...

By: Yousaf Ajab Baloch June 16, 2013 was a day of severe suffering for the parents in Balochistan when they received the burnt dead bodies of their daughters, whilst the rest of the world was gifting flowers to their fathers on Fathers’ Day. In Balochistan. fathers, with immeasurable pain, were trying to identify their daughters’ dead bodies that had been burnt ...

By Qasim Baloch Nomination of Dr. Abdul Malik as the new chief minister of Balochistan has created sensational fanfares among the masses. Some encourage it as political maturity by the federation and some consider it as a landmark due to its non tribal characteristic. Comparatively, sequestration of new government by Dr. Abdul Malik and his team will be a great ...

Yousaf Ajab Baloch Though there are multiple layers of violence and tension in Balochistan, ‘kill and dump’ of the Baloch ‘missing’ persons is one of the most vexing issues of the time. Recovery of bullet-riddled dead bodies with ruthless torture signs is an everyday occurrence. The judiciary, media, human rights organisations and Baloch nationalist parties have failed to persuade the ...

By  Hasrat Iqbal As expected, Balochistan National Party bites the dust and is worried on the results of general elections. Sometimes they put the burden of their defeat on establishment while sometimes they declare the security agencies and state death squads the responsible for their failure in elections.  BNP also thinks that they are no more the favorites for establishment ...

By Johar Ali Bugtti, London “If you see the sun red… any redness in flowers. These must be the blood of my people” (Ghulam Rasool Mulla (1939-)). With a rich and colourful history stretching back over some 2000 years the Baloch people have become accustomed to struggling against the overtures of outside powers and would-be rulers. Their resistance is a ...

QUETTA: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday strongly condemned the series of deadly attacks targeting a bus, a hospital facility and a national monument Balochistan, which left at least 20 civilians dead, many of whom were female students. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban said no cause justifies such violence, and noted with dismay that “violence against women ...