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![Tribesmen gather after a missile attack near Wana, South Waziristan, March 16, 2008. Missiles struck a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, killing 12 people, including eight foreign militants, officials said. [REUTERS/Kamran Wazir]](/shared/images/2011/11/30/pakgerman-180_142.jpg?1322664605)
2011-11-30
Some killed, others fled, analysts say
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![Younis al-Mauritani was serving as a liaison between al-Qaeda in Pakistan and the group's Maghreb affiliate, according to an AQIM leader. [Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/30/ASLaaouar1-180_142.jpg?1322664605)
2011-11-30
Mokhtar Belmokhtar indicates the regional terror group is expanding its global outreach
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![Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva addresses journalists at a Bishkek polling station during the presidential election October 30. Otunbayeva steps down from her position December 1. [Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/30/otunbayeva1-180_142.jpg?1322667605)
2011-11-30
Kyrgyz people evaluate her 20 months’ work
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![Malala Yusafzai works on her computer at home in Mingora, Swat, November 24. She was nominated for an international peace award and won a national prize. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/11/29/pakmalala-180_142.jpg?1322576704)
2011-11-29
She spoke out against Taliban when few dared
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![Rasul and Aigerim, along with their best man and bridesmaid, pray during their wedding reception November 18 in Bishkek. Each year some 15,000 Kyrgyz women are forced into marriage. The government is taking steps to fight forced marriages. [Maksat Osmonaliyev]](/shared/images/2011/11/29/kgbrides-180_142.jpg?1322580305)
2011-11-29
Problem has grown since independence
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![Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldiers join police in guarding a security post on the boundary between the Bara sub-division of Khyber Agency and Peshawar in May. The FC plays an important role in fighting terrorism, officials say. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/11/28/pakfc-180_142.jpg?1322528953)
2011-11-28
235 FC personnel killed, 257 injured in war on terror
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![The Koksarai counter-regulator dam in Southern Kazakhstan Oblast, shown during testing, in February 2010. Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are negotiating a co-operation plan to repair aging dams and reservoirs in Kyrgyzstan that feed water to Kazakhstan. [Danil Shemratov file photo]](/shared/images/2011/11/28/water-180_142.jpg?1322528953)
2011-11-28
Agreement to guarantee water supply, prevent flooding
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![Two former Taliban militants, captured during Operation Rah-i-Nijat in 2009 in South Waziristan Agency, learn plumbing skills at the Skill Development and Rehabilitation Centre in Tank District October 30. Almost 40 detainees are learning various job skills during the three-month training programme. [Zahir Shah]](/shared/images/2011/11/23/pakderadical1-180_142.jpg?1322052305)
2011-11-23
Repentant militants training as skilled labourers to rebuild area
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![Kyrgyz Hajjis in Osh listen to an imam speak after their return to Kyrgyzstan November 15. Among the islamic movements in Kyrgyzstan are the Davaatists, who say their mission is to get people to renew their Islamic faith and pray. But some Kyrgyz Muslims say they are an annoyance. [Bakyt Ibraimov]](/shared/images/2011/11/23/davaatchi-180_142.jpg?1322059504)
2011-11-23
Little-studied missionary movement not banned in Kyrgyzstan
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![Members of the Majilis, Kazakhstan’s lower chamber of parliament, attend a session in Astana June 9. Kazakhstan is scheduled to elect a new Majilis January 15. [Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/22/kzparl-180_142.jpg?1321979405)
2011-11-22
Opposition is guaranteed some seats
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![Pakistani Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (left) arrives to inaugurate a technical training centre in Gwadar, Balochistan Province, April 18. Security forces launched a search operation in the remote Chamalang area November 22 after a militant attack on Frontier Corps personnel. [Reuters/Faisal Mahmood]](/shared/images/2011/11/22/pakbaloch-180_142.jpg?1321978204)
2011-11-22
14 FC personnel including major killed in November 21 attack
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![Members of the Afghanistan Women's National Football Team train in Kabul in October. [Ali Kazymi]](/shared/images/2011/11/21/affootball-180_142.jpg?1321888205)
2011-11-21
Overcoming prejudice main challenge
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![Supporters of the banned Sunni organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa embrace each other after praying for slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Karachi May 3. Al-Qaeda- and Taliban-linked banned militant organisations have become active on the eve of the Shia holy month of Muharram, raising concerns of violence. [REUTERS]](/shared/images/2011/11/21/pakmuhrram-180_142.jpg?1321886116)
2011-11-21
Security agencies work hard to maintain peace during holy month
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![A guard stands at the gates of the Khyber Model School in Peshawar October 30. Militants attacked the school’s van in September, killing five students and their driver. Parents, unwilling to risk their children’s lives, are keeping them home. [Syed Ansar Abbas]](/shared/images/2011/11/18/pakkids1-180_142.jpg?1321626904)
2011-11-18
After September school van attack, parents are unwilling to send children to school
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![Workers inspect pipes at the Khauzak gas field in Uzbekistan in this 2007 file photo. Central Asian gas-producing countries still consider Russia a major gas customer. [REUTERS]](/shared/images/2011/11/18/cagas3-180_142.jpg?1321622404)
2011-11-18
Will Silk Road producers actually prefer Europe to Russia?
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![A bus passes a money changer’s stall in Karachi's business district February 14. Cash smuggling from Pakistan to UAE via Afghanistan has increased. [REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro]](/shared/images/2011/11/17/pakmoney-180_142.jpg?1321557235)
2011-11-17
Hawala system is main source, IMF says
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![Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (left) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, before their talks in Turkmenbashi October 22, 2010. While Russia has long been Turkmenistan’s sole gas exporter, Ashgabat recently expressed interest in selling directly to Europe. [REUTERS]](/shared/images/2011/11/17/cagas-180_142.jpg?1321557236)
2011-11-17
Central Asia interested in diversifying gas exports
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![Members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, shown above leaving prison in Tripoli, Libya in 2010, renounced an an-Qaeda-like approach to using violence. [Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/17/aqreasons-180_142.jpg?1321557235)
2011-11-17
A British study highlights the importance of social ties between an extremist and his relatives as one of several reasons he chooses to renounce violence
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![Osama bin Laden died in this Abbottabad compound in May. The bin Laden family should leave Pakistan to prevent any al-Qaeda threat from emerging, security analysts suggest. [Nazar ul Islam]](/shared/images/2011/11/16/pakfamily1-180_142.jpg?1321459210)
2011-11-16
Family’s presence called a possible security threat to Pakistan
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![Afghan boys chase a kite as they play on the second day of Eid ul Adha in Kabul November 7. An annual Asia Foundation survey finds Afghans largely support the government peace process and say the country is headed in the right direction. [REUTERS]](/shared/images/2011/11/16/afsurvey-180_142.jpg?1321458915)
2011-11-16
Asia Foundation’s recent survey finds Afghans saying country is moving in right direction
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![Visitors speak with an official on the platform of the Zhibek zholy station of the new Almaty metro during an October 22 preview. Some 23 years after construction began the first line of the metro is scheduled to open in December just in time for the 20th anniversary of Kazakh independence. [Dina Khamitova]](/shared/images/2011/11/16/kzmetro-180_142.jpg?1321456810)
2011-11-16
Subway line meant to ease traffic jams
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![Pakistan Army Cadets march in Quetta October 11. The Strategic Plans Division, responsible for the country's nuclear weapons, has announced it will add another 8,000 troops and officers by 2013. [REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed]](/shared/images/2011/11/15/paknuke-180_142.jpg?1321368300)
2011-11-15
Pakistan to induct 8,000 personnel into nuclear security force
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![Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev meets with the cabinet in September in Bishkek. Now that he has won the presidential election, a new cabinet and parliament ruling coalition will emerge and his former opponents might join the government, analysts say. [Asyl Osmonaliyeva]](/shared/images/2011/11/15/kgpolit-180_142.jpg?1321371000)
2011-11-15
New government could include representatives of north and south
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![Returning Tajik Hajj pilgrims wait outside Dushanbe International Airport for their rides home November 14. Many of the new Hajjis said they were happy and spiritually renewed by their pilgrimage. [Dilafruz Nabiyeva]](/shared/images/2011/11/15/tjhajj-180_142.jpg?1321371000)
2011-11-15
‘An enlightening experience,’ says female Hajji
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![Civil and political activists demonstrate outside the Hyderabad Press Club November 11 against the recent murders of three Hindus in Shikarpur District. Extremists are trying to destroy the fabric of Sindh society by such acts, they said. [Courtesy of Zia Ur Rehman]](/shared/images/2011/11/14/pakhindu-180_142.jpg?1321322394)
2011-11-14
11 suspects arrested in connection with deaths
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![Orange cones surround the site where two police officers were killed in a terrorist attack near a gun store in Taraz, Kazakhstan, November 13. The attack one day earlier killed seven people, including five police officers, and left two other officers hospitalised. [Aleksandr Bogatik]](/shared/images/2011/11/14/taraz-180_142.jpg?1321292671)
2011-11-14
Government concedes attack was terrorist act
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![Kyrgyz pray in a Bishkek mosque November 6. The public should hear about the differences between real Islam and extremism so it doesn’t fall victim to the blandishments of organisations such as Zhaishul Makhdi, analysts say. [Asker Sultanov]](/shared/images/2011/11/14/zhaishul-180_142.jpg?1321292670)
2011-11-14
GKNB, DUMK suggest measures to fight extremist groups
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![A crowd gathers around the bombed shrine of Sufi Pashtun poet Abdul Rahman Baba in Peshawar in March 2009. Militants who oppose Sufi Islam are suspected of committing the bombing. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/11/10/pakgraves-180_142.jpg?1320981794)
2011-11-10
Destroying shrines and graves is no service to Islam, Ulema says
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![One Yemeni expert attributes al-Qaeda's ability to using children in terrorist operations to the ease with which they can be misled. [Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi/Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/10/ASYemen-180_142.jpg?1320981794)
2011-11-10
Ahmed al-Qurashi discusses militant group's tactics
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![Kazakhstani soldiers parade during the opening ceremony of the Steppe Eagle 2011 joint tactical military exercise at the Ili military range outside Almaty August 8. Religious extremists can no longer serve in the army, according to officials. [REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov]](/shared/images/2011/11/10/kzarmy-180_142.jpg?1320981795)
2011-11-10
Followers of illicit groups will not be called to serve in Kazakh military
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![Female students attend a class in a school in the remote village of Gorrha in July. Their school re-opened in 2010, after militants were flushed out by the Pakistan army. [M. Ibrahim]](/shared/images/2011/11/09/pakedu1-180_142.jpg?1320843538)
2011-11-09
95% of starting school-aged children enrol, educators say
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![An undated video frame-grab shows Chechen rebels, including self-proclaimed Emir of the Caucasus Doku Umarov (right). Terrorists from the North Caucasus and IMU could join forces to fight for their idea of a caliphate, analysts say. [Reuters]](/shared/images/2011/11/09/caucasus-180_142.jpg?1320851339)
2011-11-09
IMU, to replenish its depleted ranks, might team with N. Caucasus group, analysts say
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![Shoppers crowd the Mian Afzal Shah Market, Faqir Killay, November 3. On October 26 an IED explosion destroyed a cosmetics shop and injured 12 people, including women and children. [Intikhab Amir]](/shared/images/2011/11/08/pakcosmetics-180_142.jpg?1320757127)
2011-11-08
October 26 IED explosion injured 12
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![Kazakhstani national security personnel rappel from a helicopter during a training exercise in Almaty’s suburbs in August. Analysts and officials are discussing whether suicide bombings are becoming a trend in Kazakhstan. [Courtesy of the Committee for National Security]](/shared/images/2011/11/08/atyrau-180_142.jpg?1320770633)
2011-11-08
Terrorism not a serious threat to Kazakhstan, analysts say
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![A Dara Adamkhel artisan crafts a 12-bore, side-by-side shotgun, at a small-arms-manufacturing shop at Dara Adamkhel in mid-October. The gun, used for hunting, is internally marketed by the Pakistan Hunting & Sporting Arms Development Company (PHSADC). [Intikhab Amir]](/shared/images/2011/11/07/pakarms-180_142.jpg?1320668617)
2011-11-07
FATA development project will transform illegal arms businesses into legal ones
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![Tashkent residents select sheep and goats for Eid sacrifice at Tashkent’s Farkhadsky market November 7. [Timur Karpov]](/shared/images/2011/11/07/uzeid-180_142.jpg?1320674921)
2011-11-07
Some complain about illegal grazing in cities, public animal slaughters
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![Tajik women study the Koran at a madrassa in Dushanbe November 4. [Nazim Kalandarov]](/shared/images/2011/11/07/tjmadrassas-180_142.jpg?1320674922)
2011-11-07
Decision comes after many madrassas flunk registration requirements
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![Pakistani security officials and Saudi Arabian officials talk at the Saudi consulate gate in Karachi after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the consulate May 11. Authorities have linked attacks on Saudi officials to foreign Shiite militants. [REUTERS/Athar Hussain]](/shared/images/2011/11/04/paksaudi-180_142.jpg?1320457916)
2011-11-04
SMP seeks to inflame Shiite-Sunni tensions
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![Banners from a banned charity seeking donations of animal hides festoon an electrical pylon in Karachi October 25. Pakistan has banned collection of sacrificial animal hides by militant organisations on Eid ul Adha, which the country will celebrate November 7. [Zia ur Rehman]](/shared/images/2011/11/04/pakhides-180_142.jpg?1320457916)
2011-11-04
Extremists use people's generosity to fund terror
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![Uzbek customs officials load sacks of drugs confiscated at the Afghan border for delivery to drug control headquarters in suburban Tashkent in September. Uzbekistan is working to improve its customs service. [Maksim Yeniseyev]](/shared/images/2011/11/04/uzcustoms-180_142.jpg?1320457916)
2011-11-04
Fighting corruption in Uzbek customs a major concern
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![Then-Nowshera District Police Officer Nisar Tanoli (left), now a deputy inspector general of police, pins inspector’s stars on Ajmir Shah in Nowshera in 2010. Ajmir, a much-revered police officer, was killed in a suicide attack October 28 in Nowshera District. [Javed Khan]](/shared/images/2011/11/03/pakajmir1-180_142.jpg?1320333811)
2011-11-03
Three TTP spokesmen claim responsibility for slaying
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![Sher Muhammad, an elder from the Haigay Sharkay Village, addresses the 4th National Convention of Local Support Organisations (LSOs) in Islamabad November 2. LSOs fight militancy, poverty and ignorance in their areas. [Raheel Khan]](/shared/images/2011/11/03/paklso-180_142.jpg?1320332899)
2011-11-03
Local organisations are crucial to Pakistani development, analysts say
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![Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security special forces undergo counter-terrorism training in Bishkek’s suburbs in September. Kyrgyz special services are expanding their international partnerships against terrorism. [Asker Sultanov]](/shared/images/2011/11/03/kggknb-180_142.jpg?1320332900)
2011-11-03
Particular attention paid to Central Asia
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![Presidents Abdullah Gul of Turkey (left), Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan (centre) and Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan greet journalists in Istanbul November 1. Afghanistan and Pakistan Tuesday held their first talks since the assassination of an Afghan peace negotiator, in a meeting hosted by Turkey to heal the Afghan-Pakistani rift. Karzai, Zardari and Gul conferred while their army chiefs consulted ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan. [REUTERS/Murad Sezer]](/shared/images/2011/11/02/istanbul-180_142.jpg?1320244070)
2011-11-02
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey tighten security co-operation
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![Dr. Ghairat Baheer, a leader of Hizb-e-Islami (HI), told Central Asia Online October 13 in Islamabad that HI has demanded representation in all Afghan peace talks. [Yasir Rehman]](/shared/images/2011/10/27/afghairat-180_142.jpg?1319760717)
2011-11-02
Dr. Ghairat Baheer, HI leader, tells CAO real stakeholders must be at all talks
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![Sultan Makhmud, an Oralman, or ethnic Kazakh, from Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan, now lives in Almaty’s Shamyrak neighbourhood. Whatever the difficulties, he is glad he returned to the land of his forefathers, he said. [Gulmira Kamziyeva]](/shared/images/2011/11/02/oralman-180_142.jpg?1320244070)
2011-11-02
Oralmans must not see themselves as second-class citizens, analysts warn
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![Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik (left), 11th Corps Commander, greets Mehsud tribesmen at Kotkai who returned home after restoration of peace in the area October 29. [Zahir Shah]](/shared/images/2011/11/01/pakwaziristan1-180_142.jpg?1320174097)
2011-11-01
First multi-shop market opens in S.Waziristan; children go back to school
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![Kyrgyz lay flowers spelling out “thank you” in Russian in front of President Roza Otunbayeva’s office in Bishkek November 1. [Asker Sultanov]](/shared/images/2011/11/01/kgroza-180_142.jpg?1320174096)
2011-11-01
Public grateful to Otunbayeva for leading country through hard times
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![Students study at the Chashmai Mokhiyen madrassa in Gisar, 20km from Dushanbe, in February. Tajik students returning from unsanctioned study-abroad programmes can continue their studies here and in other Tajik madrassas. [Nazim Kalandarov file photo]](/shared/images/2011/11/01/tjstudents-180_142.jpg?1320174098)
2011-11-01
Only a few returning madrassa students continue studying in Tajikistan
