The siege of Kandahar
If the fall of Kunduz is anything to go by, the siege of Kandahar could be a bloody exchange, writes Absar Alam from Islamabad

Pakistan's balance sheet
The current crisis has turned the international media spotlight on Pakistan, mainly portraying it as a bulwark of Western support in a mostly hostile region. But, as Iffat Malik reports, the external impression belies a maelstrom of domestic debate and dissent

Shifting into second gear
The US cannot afford to rest on its laurels in the north. Galal Nassar ponders the ensuing cat-and-mouse chase in the south

Nowhere to run
"Arab Afghans" have their backs against the wall: their governments do not want them back, and the new rulers in Kabul have vowed to show them no mercy, reports Khaled Dawoud

Displaced
For most Afghan refugees, the journey to the border is only the beginning, writes Nyier Abdou

A race against time
Though US bombing has abated in Afghanistan, opposition forces are creating sufficient havoc to hinder the distribution of food, writes Faiza Rady

Forms of assistance
Cairo is happy to provide humanitarian assistance to a post-Taliban Afghanistan. Taking part in a peace-keeping force is something else altogether, reports Soha Abdelaty

Peace now
Mohamed Hakki writes on the deliberations of a Middle East conference in the US

Now, Iraq?
Afghanistan is starting to look like the beachhead of an extensive military campaign, reports Anayat Durrani from Washington

McCarthyism returns
Under the guise of patriotism, civil liberties in the US are being eroded to the dismay of ethnic and religious minorities and anti-war activists, writes Gamal Nkrumah

Profession of fealty
Yemen is leaning over backwards to prove its loyalty to the American war against terrorism, reports Nasser Arrabyee from Sana'a