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 ...
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.
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
More from Foreign Policy

Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.

So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.

Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.

Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.