Afzal Khan
Afzal Khan is a political and terrorism analyst of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. After many years as a Writer-Editor with the former U.S. Information Agency and as a Terrorism Editor for London-based Jane’s Information Group, he is now a contractual writer for the U.S. State Department specializing in the Middle East and South Asia region.
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Articles by Afzal Khan
Baitullah Mehsud: Scapegoat or Perpetrator in Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination?
Baitullah Mehsud, chief of Pakistan’s Tehrek-e-Taliban (Movement of the Taliban), was declared a “proclaimed offender” on March 1 with a warrant of arrest issued for him by an anti-terrorist court...
Reviving the North Waziristan Peace Accord May Stabilize Tribal Pakistan
A day before Pakistan’s crucial February 18 parliamentary elections, the military government renewed the September 2006 North Waziristan peace accord. The move is widely seen as part of a revived...
Revolt in Pakistan’s NWFP: A Profile of Maulana Fazlullah of Swat
Maulana Fazlullah, who is now leading an extremist Islam-oriented insurgency in the valley of Swat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Mohammad,...
Osama bin Laden: Cornered in Kunar or Nuristan?
The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and U.S efforts to capture and kill him have made many media headlines over the years, resulting in some plausible speculation and many figments...
Pakistan’s Hunt for Al-Qaeda in South Waziristan
Pakistan’s month long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorists, believed to be sheltered by a sub-clan of the powerful Wazir tribe that inhabits the area along Afghanistan’s border in South Waziristan, has...
The War on Terror and the Politics of Violence In Pakistan
Violence in Pakistan has gone through all conceivable phases before becoming pinned to the broader concept of global terrorism inspired by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda after September 11, 2001. Pakistan...
Pakistan: Uncertain Ally In The War On Terror
Pakistan's collaboration with the United States in rounding up al-Qaeda suspects and their supporters has reached a fevered pitch ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. Pakistani newspapers carry...
Editor’s Note On Special Pakistan Issue
Pakistan is a complex country made up of some 160 million people (95 percent of whom are Muslims) with various ethnic groups vying for power and recognition. Progressive 20th century...
WITH KARZAI LEADING, TALIBAN STUMBLES OVER INTERNAL DISSENT
Predictably, the October 9 Afghan presidential election is heading toward a landslide victory for Interim President Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-backed candidate who is considered to be the most moderate and...
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS ON KARZAI LOYALISTS POINT TO HIS UNPOPULARITY
As Afghans prepare to vote in their landmark presidential election on Saturday, October 9, an air of suspense is cloaking the country. The formal campaigning ended on October 6, 48...
TWO PRESIDENTS DEPEND ON AFGHANISTAN BALLOT
The October 9 poll to elect a new president in Afghanistan holds no surprises. Most foreign observers and Afghans perceive the election campaign as a farce, and that if the...
SEARCH FOR AL-QAEDA REMNANTS MAY FURTHER ALIENATE LOCALS ON AFGHAN BORDER
The Pakistani military's six-month hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along Afghanistan's southeastern border has escalated into new incursions to other areas of the South Waziristan Federally Administered Tribal Area....
Editor’s Note On Special Pakistan Issue
Pakistan is a complex country made up of some 160 million people (95 percent of whom are Muslims) with various ethnic groups vying for power and recognition. Progressive 20th century...
Pakistan: Uncertain Ally In The War On Terror
Pakistan's collaboration with the United States in rounding up al-Qaeda suspects and their supporters has reached a fevered pitch ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. Pakistani newspapers carry...
Political And Economic Relations Between Afganistan And Pakistan Improve And Expand
Trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to be improving, despite the recent history of mutual suspicion between the Northern Alliance-dominated government in Kabul and Islamabad's past support...
Afghanistan Postpones Elections For All The Wrong Reasons
The official announcement on July 9 to postpone the Afghan presidential elections from September to October and the parliamentary elections from September to April or May of 2005 comes as...
Trade Between Afghanistan And Iran Reaches Record Levels
Historical, cultural, and linguistic links between Afghanistan and Iran have always encouraged close ties between the two countries. Frequent and close contacts continued between the two states until the Taliban...
Nato Fails To Provide Security In Afghanistan, While U.s.-led Coalition Forces Cluster On Pakistan’s Border
At the June 28-29 NATO summit in Istanbul, both Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush appealed for NATO to immediately deploy more NATO troops in Afghanistan...
The War On Terror And The Politics Of Violence In Pakistan
Violence in Pakistan has gone through all conceivable phases before becoming pinned to the broader concept of global terrorism inspired by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda after September 11, 2001. Pakistan...
U.s. Offers Diverse Programs To Rebuild Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai's recent visit to the United States highlighted recent progress toward reconstructing Afghanistan. On the economic front, the U.S. State Department's Bureau of South Asian Affairs noted on...
Road-building Given Top Priority In Usaid-financed Projects In Afghanistan
Suffering from two decades of civil war and five years of drought, Afghanistan's infrastructure was in shambles when the United States and coalition forces overthrew the Taliban regime in December...
Unrest In South Waziristan Tied To Wider Islamic Agenda
There are fears that tribal insurgency in South Waziristan is connected to wider terrorist activity elsewhere in Pakistan. The June 17 killing of pro-Taliban tribal leader Nek Mohammad, presumably with...
Death Of Tribal Leader Reveals Tribal Borderland May Be Sanctuary For Taliban, Al-qaeda Remnants
The sudden and unexpected killing of 29-year old pro-Taliban tribal leader Nek Mohammad by a laser-guided missile on the night of June 17 is fueling speculation about a broader "secret"...
Afghan Opium Production Goes Unchallenged
The June 15 meeting between US President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed to seriously address the upsurge in opium cultivation in Afghanistan and its role in...
Pakistan’s Second Miltary Foray Into Waziristan Repeats Past Mistakes
For the second time this year, the Pakistani military has begun another massive foray into the Waziristan tribal belt on Afghanistan's southeastern border to capture elusive pro-al Qaeda foreign militants...
New Violence And Lack Of Funds Impacts Afghan Elections
The spreading insurgency in Afghanistan has slowed down voter registration to such an extent that election officials are talking about postponing the polling from September to October. "The election cannot...
Insurgency Rages In Afghanistan
The US-led coalition is obsessed with establishing a corridor sanitaire along the Afghanistan border with Pakistan, creating other security holes inside Afghanistan. Most notably, suspected Taliban insurgents are now operating...
Karzai Facing Competition In Presidential Contest
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a rare news conference broadcast by Afghanistan Television from his Golkhana Palace in Kabul on June 3, defended the steps he has taken so far...
Insurgency Intensifies In Afghanistan
Insurgency has intensified in Afghanistan, giving rise to speculation as to whether it is a Taliban resurgence or broader Pashtun rebellion against non-Pashtun Kabul government. US-led coalition forces are girding...
Taliban Clashes With U.s. Troops Becoming More Frequent
As summer approaches in Afghanistan and the peak fighting season lies ahead, the 20,000-strong U.S. military is making increasing contact with the enemy. But the enemy is no longer limited...
Afghan Warlords Reluctant To Disarm
President Hamid Karzai's Kabul government - strongly backed by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad - is struggling to smooth the road to successful general elections this September. There appears to be...
Taliban Intensify Activity In Pashtun Provinces
Recent news reports from Afghanistan indicate that the Taliban are very active this spring. The Kabul government says that the Taliban goal is to disrupt the upcoming elections in September....
Wiley Tribesman Thwart U.s. Hunt For Al-qaeda
The vaunted "Mountain Storm" U.S. spring offensive on the Afghan border with Pakistan and the supporting Pakistani action against tribes believed to be harboring Al-Qaeda on its side of the...
Afghanistan: Choosing Among The Warlords
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , the Afghan mujahideen warlord that the West most likes to hate, may finally have met his Waterloo - not on the field of battle but in a...
Pakistan’s Hunt For Al-qaeda In South Waziristan
Pakistan’s month long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorists, believed to be sheltered by a sub-clan of the powerful Wazir tribe that inhabits the area along Afghanistan’s border in South Waziristan, has...