30 Afghan policemen killed in two days of attacks

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Targeted attacks

A roadside bomb in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar on Thursday killed at least nine people, primarily border policemen (AP, RFERL). The attack, along with another in Helmand by two new Afghan Local Police recruits said to be loyal to the Taliban, brought to 30 the number of Afghan policemen killed in targeted attacks over just two days (NYT).

Also on Thursday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded control of all clandestine militias linked to international forces, amid reports of abuse by such militias (AP). His demand was sparked by locals’ reports that armed militiamen linked to U.S. Special Forces in Maidan Wardak Province had tortured and killed residents in the area.

Let’s talk

A declaration issued by the attendees of an All Parties Conference (APC) in Pakistan on Thursday called for immediate steps towards negotiations with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, and for the use of a tribal Jirga as the negotiation platform (Dawn, The News, ET). The APC was hosted by Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and attended by some 30 political and religious groups.

The army in Pakistan-administered Kashmir says it has launched a probe into the alleged torture and death of a local youth by the army’s intelligence services (BBC). Family members say the young man, Ali Murtaza, was seen being taken by intelligence agents on February 17, and his body was returned to them three days later.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials and prominent Muslim religious leaders will meet in Cairo next week to discuss ways to end violent attacks on polio campaign workers (Reuters). Militants in both Pakistan and Nigeria have killed more than 20 health workers over the past three months in a campaign targeting those administering polio vaccinations to children.

Charming or chump?

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik is not known for his eloquence, having once called a string of sectarian murders in Karachi the work of angry wives and girlfriends (Guardian). But some in Pakistan find his absurd statements endearing; one friend and former diplomat said affectionately, "The best thing would be to put Scotch Tape on his mouth to stop him talking."