Asia: South & Central

All Asia: South & Central

Focus
Deradicalizing boys in Pakistan

Pakistan's Sabaoon organization is working to reintegrate child soldiers trained to be suicide bombers back into society.
Pakistani official: Position to soften on NATO supply line

An assistant to the Prime Minister says the country will show flexibility on the issue after NATO clearly expressed its displeasure in Chicago.
In Afghanistan, NATO exit plan raises concerns about stability (+video)

NATO plans to transition security control to Afghan forces over the next two years, but many Afghans question their ability to hold the gains that have been made.
Why Pakistan still hasn't reopened NATO supply lines

The government of Pakistan is facing domestic political pressure to keep NATO's supply routes to Afghanistan closed, while the US resists apologizing or paying a high per truck fee.
Pakistan bans Twitter, citing blasphemous content

Activists see the government's claims of blasphemy as a convenient excuse to rein in free-wheeling conversations on the social media site ahead of elections.
Afghanistan after the US: What's next?

Challenges in Wardak Province, west of Kabul, are a mirror of those the Afghan government will face as US and NATO pull back from reconstruction and aid funding in the next two years.
Afghan insurgent attacks down: A sign of widening Taliban fractures?

An independent monitoring group says insurgent attacks in Afghanistan are down 43 percent compared with this time last year.
Pakistan's price: US to pay $365 million more a year to reopen supply lines

A US-Pakistan deal to reopen a key NATO supply route through Pakistan, closed for nearly six months, would raise the cost of the war effort in Afghanistan by about $365 million annually.
Second Afghan peace broker assassinated

Gunmen killed a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council Sunday morning, in yet another signal that some elements within the insurgency are against talks.
Bin Laden raid one year later: Pakistan's Army untouched

The US Navy SEAL operation that killed Osama bin Laden last May threw the Pakistan Army into international disrepute. But in Pakistan, the Army has rebounded.
Obama's agreement with Karzai in Afghanistan short on specifics (+video)

In a move that both signals the close of the Afghan war and extends the US commitment here until at least 2024, President Obama visited Kabul to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan.
With blast, Taliban respond to Obama: 'You need to focus on leaving' (+video)

The Taliban detonated a car bomb around dawn, shortly after Mr. Obama gave a speech invoking 'a new dawn' with the signing of a US-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement.
What the death of Osama bin Laden means for Afghanistan

The killing of bin Laden did not end the Afghan war. But it did highlight for the US the usefulness of using military bases there for striking jihadi leaders in Pakistan.
For Pakistanis, bin Laden death anniversary sparks ... nothing (+video)

Polls show that Pakistanis are ambivalent about the Al Qaeda leader, and view his death as a foreign issue. Religious parties, however, may use anti-US sentiment in upcoming elections.
Maldives, hailed as democracy poster child, turns to Islamist fundamentalism

The tropical Maldives, recently held up as a victory for democracy, has taken a nosedive, says its ousted president. He is now looking for international help.
Osama bin Laden's family deported to Saudi Arabia. Case closed?

Osama bin Ladens three wives and 11 children left Pakistan early Friday, closing an awkward chapter for Pakistan, but leaving unanswered questions about complicity of Pakistani state.
Pakistan's top court convicts prime minister

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's conviction is triggering turmoil in a government already struggling with major economic and security challenges amid tense US relations.
Aid to Pakistan: $2.6 billion spent, little ability to show it

Anti-US sentiments and foreign policy squabbles are thwarting good US public relations from reaching turbulent, poor border regions of Pakistan.
Why Afghanistan's intelligence agency has a major blind spot

Afghanistan's intelligence service is dominated by men from one small province of the country. Has this hampered the Afghan government's ability to infiltrate the insurgency?
US, Afghanistan agree in private to long-term partnership

Without making the details public, US and Afghan officials announced on Sunday that they both endorsed a final draft of a new strategic partnership.