Qandeel Baloch, an internet celebrity who had earned the nickname “Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian” for posting suggestive selfies on Facebook, was strangled to death by her brother Friday night while she slept. Her brother, police report, felt the 26-year-old had “dishonored” their family.
Contents: Implications of the attempted coup in Turkey; Turkey coup; Protests and violence continue across Indian-governed Kashmir; Nice France terror attack provokes desperate search for solutions
A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan targeting the region’s Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) branch in their stronghold of eastern Nangarhar province killed top Pakistani Taliban-linked jihadist Umar Khalifa on July 9 along with four other terrorists, according to the Pentagon and officials from Pakistan.
Contents: Police clashes in India-governed Kashmir kill 36 and leaves thousands injured; Jammu-Kashmir violence follows a typical generational timeline after civil war
Police have detained two Christian women after their brother went into hiding this week, following an accusation of blasphemy from a “friend” who claims Naseem James sent him an un-Islamic poem on the messaging application WhatsApp.
Authorities arrested a 32-year-old Pakistani man in Brazil Sunday after his wife told police he was planning to bomb the Brasilia International Airport. Brazil is on high alert for jihadi activity as it prepares for the 2016 Summer Olympics beginning in August.
The son of Osama bin Laden has vowed that al Qaeda will take revenge against the United Sates for assassinating his father, reveals an audio message posted online by the global jihadist group.
Contents: Bangladesh tries to recover from Dhaka terror attack, the worst in 40 years; Suspicions that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency supported the Dhaka attack
The U.S. Department of State deemed al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) and its leader Asim Umar a “specially designated global terrorist” the day before the attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Pakistan is funding the Afghanistan-based terrorist activities of the regional Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) branch, Afghan political experts have declared, echoing a national security adviser for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
As of Sunday, transgender men are allowed to marry transgender women in Pakistan, following a fatwa (or religious decree) issued by an Islamic scholar permitting the act.
Qandeel Baloch, a social media celebrity and former reality TV star in Pakistan, is facing death threats after taking selfie photos with an Islamic Mufti who was stripped of his authority following the publication of the photos online.
A group of influential Muslim clerics in Pakistan have issued a religious decree (fatwa) stating that transgender people have full marriage, inheritance and funeral rights under Islamic law, though they may only marry those of the opposite biological sex.
Afghan refugee camps on Pakistani soil are serving as “safe havens for terrorists” due to the unfettered movement of people from Afghanistan into Pakistan, argues a top Pakistani official.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has suspended an influential mufti from multiple Islamic responsibilities, including the sighting of the moon necessary to end the holy month of Ramadan, after Abdul Qavi appeared in selfie photos with Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch.
A pregnant woman and her husband in Pakistan were tortured and murdered by relatives who disapproved of their marriage, an incident that is part of what is becoming a growing trend in the south Asian nation.
The number of CIA drone strikes have plummeted to a low single digit so far in 2016, President Barack Obama’s last full year in office, reports The Washington Post (WaPo), citing unnamed current and former U.S. officials.
Contents: Pakistan reopens border crossing with Pakistan after week of gunfights; Tensions grow over the Durand Line defining the Pak-Afghan border
Afghan forces deployed to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have reportedly taken heavy artillery from Pakistani troops amid intensifying clashes between the two countries that have killed at least two people and wounded nearly 25 others.
Some Pakistanis gathered for vigils to remember and honor the victims of the recent terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, defying Taliban militants and other jihadists in their country who revile the LGBT community as abhorrent to Islam.
Contents: Al-Qaeda leader swears allegiance to Taliban’s new leader; ISIS losing ground may have led to Orlando terror attack
As Dawn News points out, “honor killings” involving immolation are distressingly common in Pakistan, often triggered by a young woman marrying someone her family disapproves of. The murder of 18-year-old Zeenat Rafique was especially diabolical because her mother lured her into an ambush by offering to reconcile with her.
The situation in Afghanistan is similar to Iraq: a premature troop withdrawal, conducted with great fanfare for political reasons by President Obama, has turned into a disaster. On Thursday, the White House concluded what the Associated Press (AP) describes as “months of debate” and gave U.S. commanders greater authority to conduct airstrikes against Taliban targets.
The 2007 free trade agreement (FTA) between the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan continues to favor the communist country, fueling its penetrating influence over its Muslim-majority neighbor, reveals a detailed analysis by current affairs magazine the Herald.
The “covert” relationship between Sunni Taliban jihadists in Afghanistan and Shiite state-sponsor of terrorism Iran has endured as a “marriage of convenience” for over a decade, primarily due to their mutual disdain towards the United States, according to various reports.
Contents: Death of Afghan Taliban leader exposes Iran-Taliban links; 50,000 civilians in danger as Iraq tries to liberate Fallujah from ISIS
Hundreds of members and allies of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Jamaat-ud Dawa held funeral prayers across Pakistan for Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the late head of the Taliban killed by a U.S. drone strike this month.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) — Pakistan’s 20-member constitutional body — recently proposed a bill recommending that men bestow a “light beating” onto their defiant wives.
Pakistan launched one of its most ambitious censorship initiatives in memory at the beginning of 2016, with a Supreme Court order to “take remedial steps to quantify the nefarious phenomenon of obscenity and pornography that has an imminent role to corrupt and vitiate the youth of Pakistan.” It’s apparently not going well.
Contents: Iran and India sign ‘historic’ deal for Iran’s Chabahar port; Chabahar port deal highlights enmity between Iran-India versus Pakistan-China; Iran, India and the classic fables of Kalileh-wa-Dimneh, Jataka and Panchatantra; The Caspian Corridor and the New Silk Road
The U.S. airstrike that reportedly killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour violated Pakistan’s sovereignty, according to Islamabad.
Contents: Death of Afghan Taliban leader complicates America’s relationship with Pakistan; Massive explosions in Syria target Bashar al-Assad’s heartland
Contents: Kazakhstan farmers riot over fears of encroachment from China; Afghan Taliban leader reportedly killed by US drone strike in Pakistan
The United States is working with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China to bring the Taliban terrorist group to the peace negotiation table, according to Islamabad.
Al-Qaeda may be training one of Osama bin Laden’s young sons for a leadership position within the jihadist organization, according to a newly surfaced video that features his voice.
Violent protests broke out in Bangladesh after Islamist party leader Motiur Rahman Nizami was hanged on war crime charges, including genocide, rape, and torture linked to the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
A 25-year-old Christian named Imran Masih, from the Punjab province of Pakistan, has been charged with “blasphemy” for allegedly watching anti-Islamic lectures on his smartphone.
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), a small right-wing opposition party, has reportedly demanded that the Pakistani Army lead the investigation into corruption allegations against embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family highlighted in the Panama Papers leak.
The Hakeemullah group, a branch of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for killing a renowned activist in Pakistan’s Karachi region who was known for speaking out against jihadist groups, Reuters has learned.
Some U.S. officials continue to believe Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency poisoned the top CIA operative who presided over the secret raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, reveals The Washington Post.
