s.o.g777

s.o.g777 On the night of December 24, Pakistani fighter jets carried out strikes inside Afghanistan, capping the tumultuous year both on the security and foreign policy front. Pakistan refrained from officially owning the strikes, something that highlighted the difficult nature of the relationship with Afghanistan. This was the last thing Pakistan wanted—strained relationship with the country that Islamabad has invested so much to advance its strategic and economic interests. Pakistan had to opt for the hard option after TTP-sponsored terrorist attacks continued to target the security forces in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Three days prior to the air strikes, TTP terrorists struck at check post in South Waziristan, leaving 16 Pakistani soldiers martyred. That was the tipping point, forcing Pakistan to go after their hideouts in Afghanistan. Pakistani action came the day when after a gap of 15 months, a high-powered delegation led by Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan, was in Kabul, holding talks with Taliban authorities. Ambassador Sadiq's visit was part of a renewed push to find a solution to the problem that has undermined ties between the two countries. The year 2024 saw no let-up in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. In fact, the number of attacks has only gone up. The data compiled by Pakistan Institute for Conflict Studies revealed that terrorist-related fatalities in 2024 have surpassed 1,000, reaching 1,082 in the first 11 months, with 856 terrorist attacks reported so far this year, compared to 645 attacks in 2023, reflecting the worsening security situation. At least 245 people, including 68 security personnel, were killed in a series of terrorist attacks and clashes across Pakistan in November. The casualties included 127 terrorists and 50 civilians. November ranked as the second deadliest month of the year, following August, which saw 254 deaths, including 92 civilians, 108 terrorists, and 54 security personnel. In terms of security personnel casualties, November was the deadliest month of 2024, surpassing October, which saw 62 security force deaths. K-P was the hardest-hit region, with 50 terrorist attacks leading to 71 deaths and 85 injuries. The Kurram district witnessed one of the worst tribal clashes in recent history, with over 120 people killed. Further, according to the report, Balochistan also saw a surge in terrorist attacks. The series of deadly attacks in Balochistan compelled the civil and military authorities to launch a comprehensive military operation in the restive province. With tensions deepening with Afghanistan, 2025 may remain volatile. While the security situation remained challenging for Pakistan in 2024, issues of foreign policy kept Islamabad on the tenterhooks. There was no improvement in ties with Afghanistan. Hopes of any ice break in relationship with India after the February 8 polls never materialised. The year saw a testing time for Pakistan and China relationship. The "iron brothers" were confronted with a security challenge to navigate their relationship. At least 7 Chinese nationals were killed in two different terrorist attacks in 2024. The March 26 Besham attack left 5 Chinese engineers dead while October 6 terrorist incident killed 2 Chinese in Karachi. Those incidents compelled China to publicly express their concerns and warned Pakistan that without security improvement there won't be progress in the second phase of CPEC. There was an unprecedented hiccup in the relationship when the Chinese ambassador had to publicly rebuke Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at a public forum in Islamabad. That compelled the Foreign Office to issue a statement, terming the Chinese Ambassador's move not consistent with close ties between the two countries. What compounded Pakistan's problems was the Biden Administration's decision to target the country's long range ballistic missile programme. Pakistan's long range ballistic missile programme has remained on the US radar for years. But the US stepped up pressure on Pakistan in 2024. Washington imposed sanctions on several Chinese and Pakistani companies linking them to the ballistic missile programme. The bombshell development came this month when a senior Biden administration official made a stunning claim as to why Washington had concerns with Pakistan's missile programme. A day after, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on four Pakistani entities including state-owned National Defence Complex (NDC), Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer claimed nuclear-armed Pakistan was developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an "emerging threat" to the United States. "So, candidly, it's hard for us to see Pakistan's actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States," Finer said. Pakistani officials termed this claim as "absurd." But the US official's public statement suggested ominous signs for Pakistan's nuclear and missile programme under President Trump's second term. But despite those challenges, the year 2024 was an active year for Pakistan's diplomacy. After a hiatus of many years, Pakistan hosted a summit of regional leaders. The meeting of the Council of Heads of governments of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) saw several leaders including from China and Russia visiting Islamabad in October. Indian External Affairs Minister S J Shankar was also in attendance, raising some hopes of a thaw between the two countries. The Foreign Office listed visits from several leaders including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, China, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, the UAE, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom. It said such high level exchanges helped develop important understandings with these countries. This year, we witnessed major transformations and far-reaching developments in our region and around the world. Political changes in Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Europe, and East Asia meant foreign policy adaptations and adjustments by countries around the world including Pakistan. Against this backdrop and with Trump all set to step into the White House, there will be a lot more in store in the year 2025. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see ourHere’s a heartwarming story that should bring you joy this holiday season: the worst people you know are all fighting. The MAGA v. Tech Right feud that kicked off over Christmas, spurred by a divide on allowing skilled immigrant workers to come stateside, was escalated by Elon Musk on Thursday. Trump’s “first buddy” declared far-right characters including former Trump orbiter Laura Loomer to be trolls and allegedly removed their verification status on Twitter. Musk spent most of yesterday amplifying support for H-1B visa programs, which allow American companies to hire noncitizens for specialty occupations and have become a favorite tool in the tech industry to attract global talent. He also did it in the most 4chan-ish way possible, responding in agreement to a post from Autism Capital that posited the tech industry doesn’t hire Americans because “ you guys are retarded. ” That put him in the crosshairs of the nationalist right, which backed Trump in large part due to his promise to limit immigration. Figures like Loomer , InfoWars host Owen Shroyer , and others took shots at Musk and other tec-right figures like Vivek Ramaswamy for their narrow pro-immigration position. As Musk backed away from the conversation, chalking it up primarily to trolling, his biggest critics also saw their blue checkmarks removed from their profiles. Loomer , Shroyer , Newsmax contributor Gavin Wax , and political action committee ConservativeOG all lost their verification in the fallout of the H-1B visa battle after explicitly standing in opposition to Musk and friends. The de-verification won’t just cost them the check mark, but also the payouts from their attention-seeking posts and any income they were generating from premium subscribers who backed them . These accounts likely lost their verification status because of their association with ConservativeOG. One way to receive verification on Twitter is via affiliation with a verified organization, which ConservativeOG previously was, as seen by the gold checkmark that was once displayed on its profile . At some point, ConservativeOG got axed, and so did everyone associated with it. Loomer and ConservativeOG have ties, as seen on an archived version of Loomer’s account that shows the ConservativeOG logo next to her verification badge. It’s unclear if Loomer’s actions cost the whole organization its verification status. Loomer is currently sitting in Twitter Jail, suspended for 12 hours over a post in which she falsely accused Sriram Krishnan, Trump’s incoming senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence, of donating to the Kamala Harris presidential candidacy. It’s worth noting that the checkmark purge appears to reach beyond just those directly engaged in the H-1B visa debate. The account RawAlerts, which posts pretty much exclusively clickbait and drama-farming content, also lost its verification , and a number of other users have raised concerns that their verification status is under review without explanation as to why. In the middle of the whole immigration kerfuffle, Musk announced a tweak to the Twitter algorithm that would drop in rank posts from users who are blocked or muted by “ credible, verified subscriber accounts “—a move that Loomer interpreted as an attack on her because nothing has ever happened that isn’t about her. But it’s possible the review of verification badges is related to the algorithm adjustment. Regardless, it appears that Musk’s goodwill with MAGA loyalists is running low. It’s clear Musk and other techies who decided to cling to Trump are trying to turn the page and leave the H-1B debate behind, potentially going so far as to try to bury the accounts leading the opposition. But the far-right has only dug its heels in further following the shady de-verification move and seems intent on continuing the fight. May they all lose.McGregor must pay $250K to woman who says he raped her, civil jury rules

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