Afghans seeking medical treatment or escaping threats in their country say their efforts to enter Pakistan are complicated by a thriving black market for visas. Amid reports that visas are being sold for exorbitant prices, the Pakistani embassy has fired 12 staff members over bribery accusations.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you our reporting on the growing opposition to Pakistan’s impending deal with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan extremist group, anger over the seemingly coerced confession of an Afghan YouTuber, and forced evictions by the Taliban.
A passenger bus veered off a narrow mountain road and plummeted into a ravine in a remote area of southwest Pakistan on June 8, killing at least 22 people, including women and children.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on growing Taliban divisions, the plight of Afghan musicians in Pakistan, and how the Taliban is profiting from the booming people-smuggling trade.
A Pakistani official has confirmed a deal with the Pakistani Taliban under which an indefinite cease-fire with Islamabad was declared following a round of peace talks brokered by Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders in Kabul.
Musicians fleeing Taliban persecution in Afghanistan face arrest and deportation from neighboring Pakistan. Islamabad has been toughening border measures and cracking down on undocumented Afghan migrants and refugees since the Taliban seized power in August.
The Pakistani Taliban has declared an indefinite cease-fire with Islamabad after the latest round of peace talks brokered by Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders.
A Pakistani women’s rights activist has been granted preemptive bail after the military accused her of using derogatory and hateful remarks against the country’s top general.
While Afghanistan's Taliban leadership has banned the transit of undocumented migrants across the border to Pakistan and Iran, it's nothing smugglers cannot overcome by greasing the palms of Taliban border guards and others along the way.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called off a protest in the capital at the last moment, saying he would give the current government six days to set a date for elections.
Clashes marked protests in Islamabad between supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistani security forces late on May 25. The following day, police advanced on the remaining protesters, who largely dispersed after Khan issued a six-day ultimatum to the government to call an election.
Pakistani police fired tear gas and clashed with supporters of Imran Khan as they stopped a rally organized by the former prime minister from reaching Islamabad.
Load more
