War Photo Ltd. visit our LIMITED EDITION section and collect incredible images from the worlds leading war photographers. War photography, photojournalism, photojournalist, war photography, war photo, war images, fine art photography, fine art photography dealer, art photography, limited editions, limited edition prints, signed limited edition prints, collecting photography, world press photo, photographer of the year, photo gallery, dubrovnik, photo exhibit, slovenian war, bosnian war, croatian war, kosovo war, macedonian war, ron haviv, jon jones, chris morris, christopher morris, yannis behrakis, darko bandic, srdjan ilic, jan grarup, claus larsen, claus bjorn larsen, andrew testa, noel quidu

Pakistan

Chechnya

Israel

Libya

Egypt

Bahrain

Yemen

Afghanistan

Bosnian War 1992-1995

Burma

Chad

Colombia

Croatian War 1991-1995

DR Congo

Iraq

Israel - Lebanon 2006

Israel - Palestine

Kashmir

Kosovo Conflict 1997-1999

Liberia

Macedonian Unrest

Nepal

Northern Uganda

Sierra Leone

Sudan

 "Pakistan"

PAKISTAN
text by Marta Ramoneda and Emilio Morenatti

Pakistan emerged from the partition with India in 1947, after the subcontinent was granted independence by the British Empire. The division into two states along religious lines - with Pakistan conceived as a homeland for the Muslim population - left 10 milion people displaced and more than half a million dead. The status of Kashmir, which was at the heart of the three major wars fought between India and Pakistan, remains unresolved 60 years after partition. Pakistan’s history has been marked since its foundation by alternating periods of civilian and military rule that have only fostered instability and unrest. In 1999 Pakistan came once more under military rule after general Pervez Musharraf ousted a civilian government that had lost public support.

He was still in power when - three years after leaving neighbouring Afghanistan - I returned to settle in Pakistan in 2007. I arrived on December 27th, one day after the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Butto, who was running for the upcoming parlamentarian elections. I discovered a country immersed in a wave of violence, with a substantial part of the population protesting the assassination of their charismatic leader, whose authors remain unknown to date.

The political crisis was matched by an economic one, and with basic food prices rising over the region, Pakistanis had growing difficulties to make ends meet. In 2008, around 60% of its inhabitants were living with less than 2 USD a day, while around 20% survived with half this amount. Within the following two years I would have the opportunity of being a witness to the rapid deterioration of a confused, frightened society, falling to a deeper level of chaos day by day.

On another front, the rapid advance of the Taliban along the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on the border with Afghanistan, resulted in their control of certain areas of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and a strong presence in its main city, Peshawar, threatening to tighten their grip near the capital, Islamabad. Bomb blasts with dozens of deaths became an almost daily routine throughout the country, in particular in NWFP and the Tribal Areas. But Lahore and Islamabad were not excluded, and large-scale militant attacks struck the heart of the country with increasing periodicity. Mosques, markets, restaurants and hotels frequented by diplomats were all on the target list, while attacks on trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan became a sign of the ease with which militants were able to strike.

Aided by Pakistani money, supplies and military advice since the eighties, the Taliban had swept across Afghanistan and conquered the capital in 1996. While Pakistanis intended to use the Taliban to exert influence inside Afghanistan, the Taliban’s agenda expanded to include Pakistan in their ambitions of power. The summer of 2007 was a turning point. Islamic militants had gathered in the capital’s Red Mosque - a known centre for radical Islamic learning whose leaders had had links with wanted members of Al Qaeda - to prevent the demolition of a part of the mosque that had been built illegally. Pakistani troops stormed the mosque and began a gun battle that left a number of dead people that varies as much as from 170 to over 1,000 depending on the source - figures that still today have not been possible to verify. As a response, the Taliban launched a wave of suicide bombings around the country and declared war on the Pakistani government. At the same time, leader Baitullah Mehsud formed Tariq-i-Taliban, an umbrella organisation of several militant groups, while its control of FATA expanded to include most of NWFP.

Concerned about the growth of the Taliban inside Pakistan, the United States has been pressing the Pakistani authorities to crush the militants in their stronghold in the Tribal Areas - from where attacks against US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have been launched. In response, the government of Pakistan started a series of military operations in FATA and later in part of NWFP. One such offensive was what I call the Bajur war, the first of a series of battles that were to cause the world’s fourth largest conflict-induced displacement.




items:


Your basket is empty.
War Photo Ltd. visit our LIMITED EDITION section and collect incredible images from the worlds leading war photographers. War photography, photojournalism, photojournalist, war photography, war photo, war images, fine art photography, fine art photography dealer, art photography, limited editions, limited edition prints, signed limited edition prints, collecting photography, world press photo, photographer of the year, photo gallery, dubrovnik, photo exhibit, slovenian war, bosnian war, croatian war, kosovo war, macedonian war, ron haviv, jon jones, chris morris, christopher morris, yannis behrakis, darko bandic, srdjan ilic, jan grarup, claus larsen, claus bjorn larsen, andrew testa, noel quidu