Latest news with #Daoud
Sky News AU
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Iran really is alone': Claims Iran is bluffing about having ‘the upper hand' against Israel
Foundation for Defense Democracies Senior Fellow David Daoud claims Iran is 'alone' even though the country has stated a few allies will come to its defence following Israel's attack. 'The Iranians have to save face, they have to look like they have the upper hand,' Mr Daoud told Sky News Australia. 'They're exaggerating the impact of their strikes in Israel.'
Indian Express
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
India's Afghan policy and how it will impact the Pakistan security challenge for New Delhi
Pakistan is likely to be India's primary security challenge for the next 25 years, requiring a response that extends beyond military measures. India must implement a comprehensive geopolitical strategy to address the issues of 'Pashtunistan' and the Durand Line, which have fragmented Pashtun regions for 132 years. The Durand Line, established in 1893, was meant to mark British influence, not serve as a border. Pakistan's 1947 recognition of it as an international boundary has weakened Pashtun identity and created lasting regional instability. Afghanistan has firmly contested the legitimacy of Pakistan's claims, asserting historical sovereignty, stemming from the tribal aspiration for Pashtunistan and the Pathans' desire for direct access to Hindustan. These issues have been pivotal in the Afghan national agenda since Mohammad Daoud Khan became Prime Minister in 1953, leading to increased tensions in the 1950s and 1960s as Afghanistan supported Pashtun nationalist movements in Pakistan. The Pashtunistan movement, aimed at establishing an independent state or integrating into Afghanistan, was led by the National Awami Party and the Awami National Party, with notable leaders including Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as 'Sarhadi Gandhi'. During the Cold War, Daoud sought US military assistance, but Washington imposed conditions on a $25 million arms sale, including payment in cash and the abandonment of Kabul's claim to Pashtunistan. The State Department signalled the seriousness of these conditions by marking a copy of the note for the Pakistani Ambassador in Washington. Pakistan undermined the US-Afghan relationship by inciting tribal revolts against Kabul, with the CIA collaborating with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). In 1956, the US recognised the Durand Line at the SEATO conference, leading Afghan leader Daoud to align with Moscow. The Afghan Loya Jirga subsequently called for Soviet military support, prompting Moscow to back the Pashtuns' right to self-determination, aided by Nikita Khrushchev's visit to Kabul. In the 1960s, the Soviets supplied arms to the Pathans to counter Chinese support for Pakistan. Both the Soviet Union and Iraq supported the Pashtunistan cause, while India remained an observer despite the Pathans' fight for independence from British rule. Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars rejected joining Pakistan in 1947, advocating instead for an independent Pashtunistan. Bacha Khan expressed his feelings of betrayal to Gandhi, saying, 'You have thrown us to the wolves'. India's diplomatic efforts mostly provided moral support, reinforced by Pashto and Balochi broadcasts on All India Radio (AIR) that focused on cultural and informational content. However, there was little action taken to address the oppression faced by the Baloch and Pashtun people under Pakistan's governance or to support their right to self-determination. Indian diplomats, lacking crucial insights, viewed the Pashtunistan issue from a Western perspective and worried that instability in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) might lead to a Soviet threat. While New Delhi formed an exiled Tibetan government for the CIA, it did not support the United Pakhtoonistan Front (UPF), established in 1967. Despite this lack of direct support, the Pashtun movement continued under the leadership of the Red Shirt and National Awami Party (NAP) through the 1960s and 1970s. Pakistan aimed to influence the Pathans by integrating tribal leaders into the state, resolving the issue by the 1970s. The NWFP was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2010. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ziaul Haq and ISI Chief Hamid Gul spearheaded the 'Afghan Jihad' against the Soviet Union, propagating a misleading concept of 'strategic depth' to undermine Pashtun nationalism. They turned Afghanistan into a terrorism hub, establishing over 120 training camps for around 30,000 jihadists along the border with Pakistan. In 1992, Pakistan's ISI stopped supporting the Mujahideen and established the Taliban to dilute the principles of Pashtunwali ghayrat with a Pakistani interpretation of Islamic values, allowing Pakistan to obscure the issue of Pashtunistan. In 1976, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto proposed releasing National Awami Party (NAP) leaders in exchange for Daoud Khan's recognition of the Durand Line, but this issue remained unresolved after their removal in 1977 and 1978. No Afghan government has recognised the Durand Line as a boundary, with the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) claiming that Afghanistan's borders extend to the Indus River in the 1990s. This issue resurfaced after 9/11, when Presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani both refused to acknowledge its legitimacy. The narrative of 'Pakistani oppression' unites the Afghan people, paralleling the challenges posed by the NAP in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) in Balochistan. The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), led by Manzoor Pashteen, calls for an end to Pakistan's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while factions of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are adopting a nationalistic focus, with leader Noor Wali Mehsud vowing to fight for independence. The TTP rejects the Durand Line's legitimacy and conducts cross-border raids, leading to Pakistani airstrikes on TTP hideouts in Paktika Province in 2024. Pakistan's strategy to undermine Pashtun nationalism is faltering, and as the Taliban moves out of Rawalpindi's control, the ISI may support another Pashtun faction to replace them. The recent shift in Washington's position alongside 'Operation Sindoor' marks a significant change in India's strategy, moving away from a US-centric approach towards a more independent policy for Afghanistan. The Taliban's strong condemnation of the April Pahalgam massacre shows Kabul is no longer cooperating with Rawalpindi. India's engagement with Kabul, irrespective of the regime, is a positive development. Strengthening ties with Afghanistan is vital for India's interests in Pakistan, Central Asia, China, Iran, and Russia. Additionally, Turkey's strategy of using Pakistan to counter India in Eurasia complicates matters. The main challenge India faces is not the Taliban, but Pakistan's influence and the manipulation of Pashtun identity, which threatens its territorial integrity. India should capitalise on its renewed relations with Kabul to connect with the 60 million Pashtuns across the border and discuss potential reunification. As the US remains pro-Pakistan, India must craft a new Afghan policy that goes beyond humanitarian aid to address the Pashtunistan issue and re-examine the Durand Line's validity, which has been contested since 1992. India's Pashtun policy should respect historical contexts to promote Pashtunwali and the traditions of the Pathan people. Instead of a military approach, India should leverage its geopolitical strengths to address the unique security challenge posed by Pakistan. This strategy could involve reintegrating the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) into Afghanistan, liberating Balochistan, and reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan. Such steps would represent a crucial policy shift for New Delhi. The writer is a senior fellow at Delhi Policy Group
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Boy, 13, busted in stray bullet NYC shooting death of innocent Yonkers man in the Bronx: cops
A 13-year-old boy was busted this week in the shooting death of an innocent 28-year-old man who was simply meeting his out-of-town friend in the Bronx late last month, cops said Wednesday. The young teen turned himself in Tuesday afternoon to face charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and criminal use of a firearm in the broad-daylight April 23 shooting death of Daoud Marji, a 28-year-old plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, police said. Daoud was not the intended target, nor was a 33-year-old woman who was struck in the hip and wounded in the fray, according to law enforcement sources. The motive for the deadly violence – and the target of the boy's gunfire – were not immediately known. Daoud was meeting up with a pal from Detroit at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road just before 5 p.m. when bullets flew – with a single round striking him in the head, according to cops and his father. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he clung to life but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, previously told The Post he encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx, because he heard the area was bad. He was heartbroken when his son's pal called him with the shattering news. 'I'm a strong man, but I'm shocked. I have to take care of my family. My wife, she's very bad.' 'What am I going to do? He was my blood,' the heartbroken dad added. The alleged teen shooter's arrest came just hours after Commissioner Jessica Tisch bashed policies such as 'Raise the Age' initiatives which she said made it 'basically a consequence-free environment for kids committing crimes.' 'We changed the all the laws as they relate to how we deal with youth in our criminal justice system in 2019, and since then, we have seen an absolute explosion of youth violence, both youth as the perps and youth as the victims,' the top cop said on FOX 5's Good Day New York Tuesday morning. 'Kids commit crimes against other kids. And it is definitely something, an area where we need to re-look at the laws that were passed in 2019 and consider some major changes.' 'It's a bigger problem now,' Tisch added. 'There are more young people that we are finding with guns as the trigger-pullers.' The tragic killing also marked the second time in as many days that an innocent New Yorker was slain in random gun violence on the city's streets. A trailblazing Harlem bodega owner and community fixture — Excenia Mette, 61 — was also fatally shot in the head less than 24 hours earlier when she ran outside to check on her grandson. Police believe Ricky Shelby, 23, shot Mette by mistake as he exchanged bullets with Darious Smith, also 23, around 10:20 p.m. April 22 near West 113th Street and Lenox Avenue, according to sources. Shelby was arraigned on second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and criminal possession of a weapon charges and ordered held without bail by a Manhattan judge. Smith, who was arrested nearby with a gunshot wound to his foot, faces an attempted murder charge and also remains in jail without bail.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Second 13-year-old boy busted in deadly NYC shooting of innocent man, as youth violence spikes in NYC: cops
A second 13-year-old boy was busted in the deadly shooting of an innocent man visiting his friend in the Bronx – just days after Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that youth violence has soared in the city, according to cops. The young teen was charged Wednesday evening with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the April 23 slaying of 28-year-old Daoud Marji, cops said. The young teen was picked up Wednesday evening at LaGuardia Airport, where members of the NYPD's Warrants Squad nabbed him as he landed on a flight from Miami, sources said. A week earlier, another 13-year-old boy surrendered to cops in connection to the same slaying – facing charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and criminal use of a firearm, authorities said. Daoud, a 28-year-old plumber's apprentice from Yonkers, was not the intended target of the gunfire – nor was a 33-year-old woman who was struck in the hip and wounded in the fray, according to law enforcement sources, police sources said. Daoud was meeting up with a pal from Detroit at University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road just before 5 p.m. when bullets flew – with a single round striking him in the head, according to cops and his father. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he clung to life but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Daoud's dad Saed Marji, 56, previously told The Post he encouraged his son not to travel to the Bronx, because he heard the area was bad. Hours after that arrest was announced, a 15-year-old boy was shot and wounded, also in the Bronx, cops said. The teen was blasted once in the right thigh at 11:58 p.m. Wednesday on Exterior Street in Concourse Village, authorities said. The boy told police he heard gunshots and then realized he was hit, sources said. He was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Two males were seen fleeing on foot, according to the sources. It was not immediately clear whether the teen was targeted or an innocent bystander. The violence continued in broad daylight Thursday, when two 17-year-old boys were shot in the Bronx, apparently by stray bullets, cops and sources said. One of the boys was blasted in the neck and the other in the arm around 1:20 p.m. at East 176th Street and Anthony Avenue in the Mount Hope neighborhood, police said. Both were taken to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition, police said. Neither of the victims have criminal histories, and they were shot from a distance – leading investigators to preliminary believe that neither was the intended target, sources said. The troubling violence comes just days after Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch revealed that youth violence has skyrocketed in the Big Apple — and placed the blame on the state's contentious 'Raise the Age' law. The number of kids under the age of 18 busted with a gun increased by a whopping 136% between 2018 and 2024, the top cop said Tuesday alongside Mayor Eric Adams at a crime stats briefing held at City Hall. Over the same period, Tisch said the number of underage shooters soared 192%, while the number of juvenile victims of gun violence spiked by 81%.
Axios
30-05-2025
- General
- Axios
One of the world's longest words is a Georgia spelling bee wiz's favorite
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg — The favorite word of Sara Daoud, a seventh-grade student from Columbia County, who is one of two students representing Georgia at the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week. Driving the news: Daoud and Sarv Dharavane, a DeKalb County fifth-grader, traveled to Maryland to challenge 241 other students in the spelling bee. After a courageous effort, Daoud was eliminated in the seventh round on Wednesday after misspelling " spirketing." Dharavane remains in the fight. Zoom out: The finals start tonight at 8pm and can be viewed on the Ion network. Fun fact: More commonly known as Lake Webster, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is located in Massachusetts. According to the Webster Lake Association, the name translates roughly to ""English knifemen and Nipmuc Indians at the Border or Neutral Fishing Place" or "Englishmen at Manchaug at the Fishing Place at the Boundary." The intrigue: The name has various spellings — the version on Daoud's spelling bee profile page includes four extra letters. The spelling used above is the most commonly accepted.
