My views on operation Zarb-e-Azb

The operation looks on course as far as regaining the territory of North Waziristan is concerned. It would serve [as] a significant symbolic as well as psychological blow to many jihadis who had developed a deep affinity with this area.

However in the long run, there are quite a few challenges. First, as a state, we still lack a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy. There is no clarity of thought over Islamist militancy within the general public at large and much of the ruling class.

Even most of our policy-makers have fallen for the very propaganda narratives they once created to delegitimise the enemy. As a result of this, many of the policy-makers continue to consider some militants as allies and strategic assets when in fact those militants are hand-in-glove with Al Qaeda.

There are way too many contradictions in the Pakistani narrative on jihadi groups. My research into militancy shows that this flawed narrative serves as the quickest and most convenient approach to draw many Islamists into the fold of militant Islamism.

We need to realise that the formulation of a successful counter-terrorism strategy would require some serious introspection and analysis of our worldview and strategic focus.

Published: Dawn, 28th July 2014

http://www.dawn.com/news/1121758/talking-heads-hasan-abdullah

How successful has been the North Waziristan military operation?

My views in BBC report...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x260l5z_sairbeen-15th-september-2014_news?start=49

Foreign militants seeking ‘safe passage’

By Hasan Abdullah

MIRAMSHAH: As the government team prepares for another meeting with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), many of the foreign militants based in and around North Waziristan feel they are facing an uncertain future and are not only seeking assurances from their hosts but are also weighing options for moving out to others places, like Afghanistan and Syria, to continue their ‘jihad’.

This emerged during a series of interviews conducted by this corespondent with scores of foreign militants, mainly around North Waziristan, on getting exclusive access to various groups and to some of the most wanted fugitives in the country.

The Consortium Of Terror

By Hasan Abdullah

Despite hundreds of attacks and the deaths of thousands of Pakistanis, there is still a great deal of confusion about the number, nature and end goals of the militant organisations operating in Pakistan. For some, they remain figments of a fevered imagination. To others they are proxies of foreign powers.

This belief has not come out of the blue. It is part of an obscurantist narrative the state itself created and propagated. The problem with this narrative is that while it may have delegitimised some jihadi groups within public ranks, it is counter productive in the long run for a number of reasons. First of all, it fails to address the very ideology that promotes militancy and hence the state’s failure to present an effective counter-ideology.

While politicians squabble, the TTP gears up

By Hasan Abdullah

KUNAR: While Pakistan’s politicians show only indecisiveness over a strategy for dealing with militants, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has quietly been making the most of the situation and is gearing up for what it conceives of as the “long war ahead”.

Some of Pakistan’s politicians appear to believe that the country’s militancy issues would be resolved once the US and its allies exit Afghanistan. But commanders of the officially banned TTP and even the Afghan Taliban are convinced otherwise.

The big ban theory

By Hasan Abdullah

From the confines of her room, Uzma Riaz has been successfully running a small business for the last few years. She describes herself as a ‘full-time mother’ with an interest in fashion designing, bridal dresses being her niche. Most of her customers are people of Pakistani origin based in Western European countries. She says her laptop fitted with audio/video facilities and an internet connection is the backbone of her business. She talks to her clients through Skype and Viber, but is now worried.