Taliban finding footholds in Karachi

New Post: Shamila N. Chaudhary, "How did they do? Grading the PPP" (AfPak).

Moving in

The Pakistani Taliban are a growing presence in Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi, stepping up assaults on police officers, and joining other city gangs in building extortion rackets that target wealthy businessmen (NYT). The Taliban have also established control over some Karachi neighborhoods, where they set up a parallel judicial system to settle disputes through their severe interpretation of Islamic law. And they have greatly weakened the local branch of the secular Awami National Party (ANP), destroying their offices and chasing them out of town with targeted attacks.

A suicide bomber targeting security forces at a checkpoint near the U.S. consulate in Peshawar killed at least 12 people and wounded 14 others on Friday (The News, CNN, Dawn, BBC). Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attack.

A Pakistani man working at a German company that develops technology for Israeli surveillance drones used by German troops in Afghanistan has been arrested on suspicion of military espionage (AFP). German officials say the man, identified only as Umar R., has been suspected of "attempting to procure information about sophisticated military technologies" since October. The magazine Focus, which reported his arrest, said he had illegally obtained studies into the piloting and navigating of drones.

And fifteen suspected militants were killed in a joint Afghan-NATO offensive in the northern province of Jawzjan on Thursday night (Pajhwok).

Kabul to kebabs and back again

Abdullah Amini has more than one claim to fame: he once owned the only Afghan restaurant in the midwestern town of Omaha, Nebraska; and he is the only person to have advised the last seven U.S. commanders in Afghanistan (Post). No stranger to conflict, Amini fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan as a 21-year-old in the 80s, and he didn’t hesitate to return to play a part in toppling the Taliban over a decade ago.

— Jennifer Rowland