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Saturday morning roundup

Gregg Carlstrom | October 24, 2009 10:11 AM |

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The Pakistani army has recaptured the town of Kotkai, Hakimullah Mehsud's hometown and a strategically important area in South Waziristan.

Army officials didn't provide any details on the fighting in Kotkai, and the area is closed to journalists. At least 160 militants and 23 soldiers have reportedly died since the South Waziristan offensive began one week ago.

Kotkai is on the way to Sararogha, reportedly a major Taliban stronghold.

Pakistani forces briefly captured Kotkai earlier this week, but were repelled by Taliban fighters a few hours later.

Iraq: Al-Sistani warns of election delay

A top aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warns that Iraq will fall into chaos if the elections scheduled for January 16 are delayed.

During a Friday prayer sermon in Karbala, Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie said a delay "will lead to political and constitutional vacuum and security chaos."

The Iraqi parliament failed to pass a new election law last week. Lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene on Sunday to give it another try.

An aide to populist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr made a similar demand during a sermon yesterday, calling for "a speedy withdrawal" U.S. troops from Iraq.

Pakistan: Drone strike kills 18

A suspected U.S. drone strike killed at least 18 people in Bajaur. The drone was reportedly targeting a Taliban shura.

Local sources tell Dawn that Maulvi Faqir, the deputy chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, left the meeting just 10 minutes before the attack.

Bajaur is in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas; the region is along the Afghan border, just west of the Swat valley.

Other headlines

Brig. Gen. Omar Ali al-Issa, an officer in the Yemeni army, was killed by Huthi rebels yesterday in an ambush in the northern Saada province. Al-Issa headed an infantry division that is fighting the rebels in Saada.

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Categories: News Roundups

Tags: Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, drone strikes, Huthi rebels, Kotkai, Maulvi Faqir, Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban, Yemeni insurgency

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B'Tselem: Settlements occupy 42 percent of West Bank

Ben-Eliezer makes "secret trip" to Turkey: Israeli TV

CENTCOM talking sense on Hamas and Hizballah

Peace Processing

Talking about direct talks: Netanyahu returns to the White House

Gregg Carlstrom | July 6, 2010 4:00 AM |

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US president Barack Obama will use a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an extended West Bank settlement freeze. If Netanyahu doesn't offer one - and the domestic politics are quite difficult for him - it's hard to see any possibility of direct talks with the Palestinian Authority later this year.

The Afghan Surge

Obama's southern strategy

Gregg Carlstrom | June 24, 2010 6:09 AM |

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The president's decision to nominate Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan won't mean a major change in strategy. But there are mounting reasons for pessimism about current policy, particularly the relentless focus on southern Afghanistan. The deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Kandahar and Helmand serves few NATO objectives.

Freedom Flotilla Killings

Anticlimax: How much did the flotilla raid really change regional politics?

Gregg Carlstrom | June 17, 2010 7:35 AM |

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It has accelerated Israel's isolation from several of its neighbors and allies; it has sharpened divisions within Turkish domestic politics; it has deepened perceptions that the Obama administration as too close to Israel. And it seems to have had a remarkably minor impact on Palestinian domestic politics.