The Latest - Pakistan
Year After bin Laden’s Death: Al-Qaeda ‘Far From Defeated’
"He created an organization and developed it," said Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA official and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "I don't think his death fundamentally affects the future of jihadist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan,"... more...
Al-Qaeda is Down, but Far From Out
The numbers tell the story: America’s counter-terrorism campaign is gradually shifting from Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and other parts of Africa. more...
Keeping on Offense
In the past few years the organization has also suffered steady losses from U.S. drone strikes. The drone campaign began under President George W. Bush and increased in intensity near the end of Bush’s time in office. more...
CIA Wants to Use ‘Signature Strikes’ Against Terror Suspects in Yemen
Citing the Long War Journal, a website that tracks drone operations, the Post said there have been an estimated 27 strikes in Yemen since 2009 -- killing 198 militants and 48 civilians. more...
China Says Wanted Militants Use Nearby Countries to Stage Attacks
Mr. Turkistani has been leading Chinese fighters inside the tribal belt since May 2010, when an American drone killed his predecessor, Abdul Haq al-Turkistani. In May 2011, Al Qaeda announced that Abdul Shakoor Turkistani would be leading its fighters... more...
Will Drones Go Nuclear?
Bill Roggio, editor of The Long War Journal, agrees that at this stage, nuclear-powered drones are very much just an idea, and a potentially flawed one at that. more...
US and Pakistan Bargain Over CIA Drones
The diplomatic furor threatens to halt the CIA's drone program, which in the last eight years, has killed an estimated 2,223 Taliban, al Qaeda and other suspected militants with 289 strikes, peaking at 117 strikes throughout 2010... more...
Pakistani Lawmakers Want a Halt to US Drone Strikes
Drone strikes stopped for six weeks following the Nov. 26 incident, but then resumed in mid-January. Since then, at least 10 suspected U.S. attacks have been carried out in Pakistan’s tribal areas, according to the Long War Journal, a website that maintains statistics on the U.S. drone campaign. more...
Drones at Issue as US Rebuilds Ties to Pakistan
On the American side, the drone program is also evolving. The pace has relented, with 64 strikes recorded in 2011, down from 117 in 2010, according to the Long War Journal, a Web site that closely monitors the strikes. more...
Chinese Bank Pulls Out of Pakistan-Iran Pipeline Project
"U.S. banks increasingly are not willing to do business with foreign financial institutions doing business with Iran," said Mark Dubowitz, an energy specialist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan think tank. more...
Slaughter of Shiites on the Rise in Pakistan
According to the Long War Journal, Jundallah has a history of targeting Shiites in the country. "The two most high-profile attacks against Shia took place in May 2004, when Jundallah killed 38 Shia worshipers in separate attacks at the Hyderi Mosque and the Jinnah Road Mosque in Karachi," the report says. more...
Drone Strike Kills 4 in Pakistan, Officials Say
The spate of suspected drone activity suggests a moratorium on strikes, called after the November attack, has ended, said Bill Roggio, a senior fellow with the [Foundation] for Defense of Democracies and managing editor of The Long War Journal. more...
Pakistan, Taliban Doubt Mehsud is Dead
The Long War Journal, an online forum tracking counter-terrorism operations, reported during the weekend that intercepted radio communications between Taliban fighters led intelligence authorities to suspect Mehsud was killed in an airstrike last Thursday in northwest Pakistan. more...
Lull in Strikes by U.S. Drones Aids Militants in Pakistan
Over all, drone strikes in Pakistan dropped to 64 last year, compared with 117 strikes in 2010, according to The Long War Journal, a Web site that monitors the attacks. more...
US Prepares for a Curtailed Relationship With Pakistan
The C.I.A. has conducted 64 missile attacks in Pakistan using drones this year, compared with 117 last year and 53 in 2009, according to The Long War Journal, a Web site that tracks the strikes. more...
US Puts Brakes on Drones, No Attack in 33 Days
Washington: Pakistan is experiencing the longest respite from punitive drone strikes by the United States. Washington has now gone 33 days without a Predator or Reaper airstrike against terrorist targets in Pakistan, according to statistics compiled by the Long War Journal. more...
Official: Pakistan Sees Lull in US Drone Strikes
There hasn't been a missile strike against militants since the Nov. 26 NATO raid at the Pakistani army border outpost that killed 24 soldiers. That's according to The Long War Journal, a website that tracks the strikes. more...
Pakistan Says It Returned Fire in Deadly NATO Border Attack
The U.S. has sought to repair relations with Pakistan. One possible byproduct of that effort is the absence of CIA drone strikes since mid-November, an unusually long pause, said Bill Roggio, who tracks the strikes for the website Long War Journal. more...
Pakistan: Words v. Action
As Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was flying toward Afghanistan earlier this week, he told the reporters flying with him that Pakistan is a critical element in ultimately winning the war in Afghanistan. more...
US Drone Strikes ‘On Hold’ in Tribal Areas
As the US-Pakistan relationship continues to plummet, the US has placed its covert air campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistan’s tribal agencies “on hold” The Long War Journal reported. more...
Experts
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Senior Fellow and Editor of The Long War Journal
Director, Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization