Pakistan
THE LATEST: FLOODING DEVASTATES THE NATION
The summer of 2010 produced Pakistan's worst flooding in 80 years (more on Pakistan's 2010 floods here). In a televised address on August 14, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that 20 million people, about one-ninth of the population, had been displaced by the disaster. Millions were left without food, shelter and clean water.
Flooding began on July 22 in the province of Baluchistan. The swollen waters then poured across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest before flowing south into Punjab and Sindh.
Even as Pakistani and international relief officials scrambled to save people and property, they despaired that the nation’s worst natural calamity had ruined just about every physical strand that knit this country together — roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, electricity and communications.
The devastation raised fears of further instability in the country, a central pillar of American regional strategy to combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda but also long troubled by a weak government and economic woes. Hard-line Islamic groups stepped in to provide aid where the government has failed to reach; the United States also sent aid with an eye to improving its reputation among ordinary Pakistanis.
The United Nations appealed for $460 million in international donations, and the World Bank pledged to reroute money from other projects to provide $900 million in emergency funds to help Pakistan in recovery efforts.
The floods in Pakistan have upended the Obama administration's carefully honed strategy there, confronting the United States with a vast humanitarian crisis and militant groups determined to exploit the misery, in a country that was already one of its thorniest problems.
OVERVIEW
Pakistan was born as an explicitly Muslim state, and the wrestling between its secular and Islamic natures has never been so pronounced as in recent years. Its other sources of unrest, including the military's role as the arbiter of power - there have been four coups in its 60 years of independence - its rampant corruption and political instability, have been joined by the rise of Islamic militant groups that have won control of parts of the country's western half and launched attacks that have slowly goaded the government to action.
FIGHTING DOMESTIC INSURGENCY
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the country entered into an alliance with the United States that it later claimed was the result of coercion. In 2002, Pakistan came to the brink of war with India after Islamic members of a Pakistani militant group attacked India's Parliament.
The following years were tumultuous even by Pakistan's standards, as its military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was forced from office and a combination of the Taliban and home-grown Islamic militants spread their control from country's mountainous western border ever further toward the capital.
ARTICLES ABOUT PAKISTAN
U.S. Sentence for Pakistani Ignites Anger and Protests
Pakistan’s leaders and opposition politicians were quick to express outrage at the sentence handed down to a Pakistani woman who was convicted of trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents.
September 24, 2010
After Pakistani Journalist Speaks Out About an Attack, Eyes Turn to the Military
Umar Cheema has been one of the few Pakistani journalists to talk publicly about an attack he believes was punishment for his reporting work.
September 24, 2010U.S. Sentence for Pakistani Ignites Anger and Protests
Pakistan’s leaders and opposition politicians were quick to express outrage at the sentence handed down to a Pakistani woman who was convicted of trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents.
September 24, 2010Troubled Tour Ends for Pakistan
Pakistan did not get the happy ending it wanted to in its tour of England, and perhaps that was appropriate. Little else, after all, was happy about its three-month stay.
September 23, 2010
Karachi on Edge Over Killing of Pakistani in London
After the killing of the exiled politician, violence broke out in the commercial capital as public services were shut down.
September 18, 2010
Floodwaters Give New Life to Pakistani Class Dispute
Many of the poorer victims fear that they will once again be ignored in favor of rich and powerful interests as plans to contain the water flow of the Indus River take shape.
September 16, 2010
Seeking Stability, Pakistani and Afghan Meet
Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Pakistan for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari.
September 16, 2010
Floods Change Pakistani Effort Against Insurgents
Pakistani troops who have been battling the Taliban and Al Qaeda are turning to defensive actions as the military provides relief to the flooded Swat Valley.
September 14, 2010States of Conflict: An Update
A statistical progress report on the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
September 12, 2010
Readers’ Views: Equality Among the Dead
Comments from readers, along with brief responses from the Times staff.
September 12, 2010
Indus River Outsider
A native of Pakistan becomes a stranger to the flood zone.
September 12, 2010U.N. Flood Relief Official Says She Will Seek More Money
Baroness Amos said the request would go beyond the $460 million sought in the initial global appeal for help.
September 10, 2010
Planned Koran Burning Drew International Scorn
A small American church’s canceled plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11 drew condemnations from world leaders and touched off angry protests in corners of the Muslim world.
September 10, 2010Indian-Pakistani Team Makes Doubles Final at U.S. Open
Rohan Bopanna, of India, and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, of Pakistan, are trying to promote peace between their nations with their doubles play.
September 9, 2010Blast Strikes Pakistani Police Area
A powerful blast ripped through a residential compound for police officials in Pakistan’s restive northwest, killing at least 18 people.
September 8, 2010
Fatal Suicide Attack on Pakistan Police Station
A bomber rammed a vehicle into a police station on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring at least 46, according to officials.
September 7, 2010
Floods Threaten to Bring Upheaval to Pakistan
As devastating floods appear to widen divisions, Pakistani officials, some accused of ineptitude and favoritism, are trying to repair the political damage.
September 6, 2010
In Lahore, Mourning for Victims of Attacks
Street markets remained closed early on Thursday and police mounted patrols after a suicide attack claimed 31 lives among a procession of Shiite Muslim worshippers.
September 3, 2010
Should Records From Games Marred by Tampering Claims Still Stand?
Cricket is faced with that question after a British tabloid newspaper alleged that players for Pakistan were paid to tamper with their play during a test last week at Lord's in London.
September 3, 2010Cricket Scandal Denies Pakistanis Relief From Daily Hardships
The cricket-obsessed nation has burst into a collective outcry of anger and frustration after allegations that some players of the national team were involved in illegal match tampering.
September 3, 2010
Suicide Bombers in Pakistan Kill Dozens of Shiites
A blast touched off clashes between local police forces and mourners and protesters infuriated by the attack.
September 2, 2010
Cricket ‘Spot Fixing’ Video Scandal Rocks Pakistan
For many Pakistanis, weighed down by violence and floods, a betting scandal was the final straw.
August 30, 2010
Dual Defeats for Pakistan Amid Cricket Scandal
For fans in Pakistan, where cricket is the national sport, the allegations of match tampering were just another in a long string of bad news in their flood-stricken, violence-plagued country.
August 30, 2010
Pakistanis Scramble to Escape Floods
A town that had been evacuated filled up after the Indus River broke its embankments.
August 29, 2010
Upstarts Chip Away at Power of Pakistani Elite
Pakistan is urbanizing fast, and powerful forces of change are chipping away at the landed aristocracy.
August 29, 2010
Evacuations Continue in Southern Pakistan
Hundreds of thousands more Pakistanis fled their homes in the last 48 hours as high floodwaters reached the southernmost region of the country.
August 28, 2010
Pakistani Taliban Hint at Attacks Against Foreign Aid Workers
Pakistani militants said the presence of foreign aid groups was “unacceptable,” but the United Nations vowed to press on with its work in flooded areas.
August 27, 2010China's Discreet Hold on Pakistan's Northern Borderlands
Pakistan has given China de facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in the northwest corner of disputed Kashmir.
August 27, 2010
Pakistan Flood Sets Back Infrastructure by Years
The destruction of roads, schools and health clinics could further weaken the civilian administration.
August 27, 2010
800,000 Pakistanis Cut Off From Road
Aid workers pleaded for more help and helicopters to reach hundreds of thousands of people isolated by floods.
August 26, 2010
Pakistan, Drowning in Neglect
As refugees in Baluchistan suffer, the military and politicians have other priorities.
August 26, 2010
Pakistan Flooding Disrupts Afghan War Supplies
The floods that have inundated Pakistan have also affected supply lines for military forces in Afghanistan.
August 25, 2010
Floods in Pakistan Pour South
President Asif Ali Zardari ordered authorities to save Shadad Kot, a city of 150,000, as floodwaters came within half a mile of the city over the weekend.
August 24, 2010
Pakistanis Tell of Motive in Taliban Leader’s Arrest
Pakistani officials say they set out to capture Abdul Ghani Baradar because they wanted to shut down secret peace talks he had been conducting with the Afghan government.
August 23, 2010
Floods Force Thousands From Homes in Pakistan
Water continued to surge into areas of southern Pakistan, forcing thousands more people to abandon their homes.
August 23, 2010
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
The Islamic world needs its own Nelson Mandelas to step forward.
August 22, 2010
Experience Isn’t Enough in Pakistan’s Punjab Flood Plain
In Punjab, a traditional flood plain, officials had at least 48 hours of warning that a torrent was coming.
August 22, 2010China Can't Break the Rules
Beijing's plans to sell two nuclear reactors to Pakistan violate global agreements and need to be halted.
August 21, 2010
Pakistan Flooding Surges, Threatening Sindh Province
Surging waters are shifting damage southward, as the water level rises at one of the main flood barriers.
August 21, 2010
Floodwaters Bring Chaos Back to Pakistan’s Swat Valley
Floods shattered hopes where residents had just began rebuilding after troops drove the Taliban into hiding.
August 20, 2010SEARCH 4896 ARTICLES ABOUT PAKISTAN:
Multimedia
Slide Show The Swat Valley, After the Flood
Pakistani troops are being diverted from combating Islamist militants in the Swat Valley to help the nation recover from the worst floods in its history.
Video Pakistanis Face More Displacement
In the last few days alone about a million people were forced to flee their homes, joining the six million who've already done so since the flooding began in late July.
Slide Show Floodwaters Continue to Surge in Pakistan
Thousands more people were forced to abandon their homes in haste and flee to higher ground.
Interactive Feature Extent of the Flooding in Pakistan
Satellite images taken since the beginning of August show thousands of square miles of water-covered land along the Indus River.
Slide Show Aid Is Slow to Reach Millions Affected by Pakistan Floods
The U.N. warned that Pakistan was not receiving enough money or supplies to prevent a potentially wider disaster after floods that left millions without food and shelter.
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