Creeping Talibanization” in Pakistan
By NATASHA YEFIMOV
Natasha Yefimov is Nicholas Kristof’s assistant.
Nick’s Thursday column is about the “Talibanization” of parts of Pakistan that lie far outside the tribal areas in the northwest where militant activity by the Taliban and Al Qaeda has long been a problem. Today, Islamic fundamentalists – bolstered, perhaps, by those who don the trappings of jihadism to further their own self-interest more than any larger cause – have taken root in parts of Punjab, “the Pakistani heartland,” and have even taken control of some neighborhoods in the nation’s vibrant commercial capital, Karachi.
Nick’s Thursday column is about the “Talibanization” of parts of Pakistan that lie far outside the tribal areas in the northwest where militant activity by the Taliban and Al Qaeda has long been a problem. Today, Islamic fundamentalists – bolstered, perhaps, by those who don the trappings of jihadism to further their own self-interest more than any larger cause – have taken root in parts of Punjab, “the Pakistani heartland,” and have even taken control of some neighborhoods in the nation’s vibrant commercial capital, Karachi.
In the column, Nick suggests two socioeconomic incentives that the U.S. could support to weaken hard-line Muslim fundamentalists in Pakistan – slashing tariffs on Pakistani imports and aiding the country’s secular schools.
Also, this useful analysis from the Jamestown Foundation points out a link between the geographic spread of militant Islam in Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan: As of early this year, roughly 75 percent of the supplies going to U.S.-NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan were running through Karachi, a port city. “There are signs,” said the article, “that the Taliban is not only continuing attacks on supply terminals in the North-West Frontier Province city of Peshawar, but now intends to choke off Coalition supplies at their offloading point in the harbor of Karachi.”
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