Four Pakistani helicopter pilots rescue British mountaineers at death-defying heights MAJ. MUZAFFAR AHMED, PAKISTAN ARMED FORCES It was a calm, sunny day on May 29, 2018, when three seasoned climbers — Bruce Normand, Timothy Miller and Christian Huber — kicked off an expedition to Ultar Sar peak in Pakistan. Normand and Miller hailed from Britain, and Huber joined them from Austria. All three climbers had a special affection for Pakistan’s Northern Areas, evident from their expeditions to other mountain peaks during previous climbing seasons. After flying to Gilgit and passing through the Fairy Meadows, they checked into a riverside resort…
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Top Qatari official speaks in Doha at the Forum on Returning Foreign Fighters INFORMATION OFFICE, QATARI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani affirmed that Qatar is an active partner in the international collaboration against terrorism. At the Forum on Returning Foreign Fighters in November 2018 in Doha, Sheikh Mohammed said the issue of terrorism is a high priority for Qatar. He pointed to the continuous development of national legislation and its related institutional entities to fight terrorism, and the implementation of United Nations resolutions in this regard as well…
Nations need treatment plans to rehabilitate children brainwashed by Daesh terrorists DR. HUSSEIN ALLAWI, CEO, THE AKKAD CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AFFAIRS AND FUTURE STUDIES Humanity today continues to face dangers, though these dangers differ from one region to the other. Most people concede that terrorism is among the worst of these dangers. Starting in the 1970s, terrorism and terrorist groups became increasingly active so that today we’re experiencing the third generation of terrorism. However, the latest terrorist generation (Daesh, al-Nusrah Front, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and al-Qaida) has started to use a new weapon, namely children and teenagers, described as cubs…
Traditional weapons can only do so much to defeat the scourge of terrorism UNIPATH STAFF When researchers with the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism interviewed 100 former Daesh members in places such as Iraq and Syria, their findings came as a surprise to many. Most of these men and women — fighters and volunteers from as far away as Europe — felt betrayed by Daesh. And it wasn’t just a case of weariness in fighting for a losing cause. Daesh seduced them with promises of solidarity — the creation of a dignified, ideal Islamic society in which…
The training and advising role benefits Afghan security by helping to marginalize violent extremists AHMAD MURID PARTAW, FORMER AFGHAN SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE TO U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan has been able to engage positively across different areas with the United States, NATO and the broader international community. While the initial mission of the military coalition that toppled the Taliban was to restore peace and stability, various factions within the international community have striven to rebuild the Afghan state with their own visions and motives in mind. This has led to the reconstruction of the…
UNIPATH STAFF Oman was honored for having one of the most reliable police forces in the world. In the World Economic Forum’s “Global Competitiveness Report,” released in October 2018, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) ranked fifth in the world and first in the Arab world for reliability. It was one of dozens of categories of a Global Competitiveness Index on which 140 countries were ranked to gauge their economic strengths. Oman also ranked best in the world for having the fewest terrorist incidents and fourth best in the world for its relative absence of organized crime. Omani leaders thanked local…
Egypt’s military leaders embrace the country’s legacy of military strength EGYPTIAN ARMED FORCES Throughout ancient history, Egyptian warriors excelled as archers. Therefore, their country is known as the “Land of the Quiver.” In this land, brave warriors still embody this everlasting honor and heroism … aspiring to glory in a fierce defense of their homeland. The Egyptian Ministry of Defense holds a solemn responsibility for leading the world’s oldest army, established in Egypt around 3200 B.C. Two of Egypt’s key military leaders — Gen. Mohammed Zaki and Lt. Gen. Mohammed Farid — play pivotal and heroic roles in defending their country,…
UNIPATH STAFF Qatar has allocated $1.8 billion to modernize Al Udeid Air Base, the main air base the United States uses in its military and counterterrorism operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. According to Deputy Commander of the Qatari Air Force Maj. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Al Malki, the expansion is aimed at accommodating new types of aircraft, including French Rafale fighter jets, American F-15 fighters and Eurofighter Typhoon jets. Qatar signed a $6.2 billion contract with Boeing for 36 F-15s and a $6.38 billion contract with BAE Systems to buy 24 Typhoons. The air base project includes the construction…
UNIPATH STAFF More than 100 Afghan students have enrolled in a new technical college over the border in Uzbekistan, a school designed to teach the Uzbek language to ethnic Uzbeks from Afghanistan and train a cadre of skilled technicians to improve connectivity and security in Afghanistan. The campus in Termez, 10 kilometers from the Uzbek-Afghan border, is partly financed by Uzbekistan’s government and will offer specialties in fields such as railway engineering and Uzbek language and literature. A 75-kilometer railroad connecting Hairatan on the Uzbek-Afghan border and Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan was completed in 2010. Aiming to raise the…
UNIPATH STAFF Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov called on Central Asian and global leaders to engage constructively with Afghanistan in the name of regional security. The president’s speech at the United National General Assembly in September 2018 highlighted energy, transportation and communications projects that would serve international strategic interests by encouraging economic growth and stability in Afghanistan. Turkmenistan has been building a natural gas pipeline called TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India) since 2015 and extended railway lines into Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is also installing electrical transmission lines that would link it to Pakistan via Afghanistan, allowing the Kabul government to collect transit fees as…