Mustafa Qadri

My latest report for The Guardian is on the Pakistan army’s inability to defend Pakistan:

Pakistan’s army: as inept as it is corrupt

The answer to why Pakistan’s mighty army seems impotent against Taliban insurgents is that it is more mafia than military

Mustafa Qadri

No institution dominates Pakistan like its army. The armed forces account for 20% of Pakistan’s national budget, totalling $5bn last year according to official statistics. But the actual figure, already staggering for a country with high levels of illiteracy and malnutrition, is likely to be much higher. The army has been practically unaccountable since the very foundation of the country – last year’s figures were the first it has publicly released since 1965.

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My column for newmatilda.com this week is on the inherent failings of the Pakistan Army that make fighting the Taliban more difficult:

Is Pakistan’s Army a paper tiger?

They’ve huffed and they’ve puffed but they can’t blow the Taliban down. Why not, asks Mustafa Qadri

The Army is the most powerful force in Pakistan. So why how has a rural insurgency armed with basic weapons managed to overrun so much of the country? That is the question that Pakistanis, as well as many in the international community, are now asking.

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