January 4: Pakistan
A prominent governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, is killed by his own body guard. Taseer promoted tolerance and rights for women and minorities. He was also a fervent supporter of reforming Pakistan’s blasphemy law.
March 2: Pakistan
Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti is ambushed and shot dead in broad daylight by members of Pakistani branch of the Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban. Bhatti was one of the critics of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws and a supporter of their reform. The blasphemy laws carry a death sentence for insulting Islam; however, the critics say it is often applied to persecute people of other faiths. After Bhatti’s murder, and Governor Salman Taseer’s before him, the Pakistani government has decided to abandon the proposed reform of the laws.
March 9: Afghanistan
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) issue a report showing that the year 2010 saw the highest number of Afghan civilian casualties since the beginning of the war in 2001. More than 2,770 civilians were killed in 2010, which is 15 percent higher that the year before. Most of these deaths were caused by the Taliban and other insurgents.
March 31: India
The results of India’s 2011 census show that the country’s population has grown to 1.21 billion and India is expected to overtake China as the most populous country by 2030. However, the growth rate has been steadily falling. The census also reveals a growing gender imbalance, with 914 girls for every 1,000 boys, and an improving literacy rate, reaching now 74 percent.
April 26: Sri Lanka
A United Nations special panel report says that there are credible allegations into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels in the final phase of the country’s civil war in 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians lost their lives when the rebels used them as human shields and the government troops deliberately targeted them. The Sri Lankan government rejects the accusations.
May 2: Pakistan
Osama bin Laden, the founder of the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda and the world’s most wanted man, is killed in his private residential compound in a Pakistani city of Abbottabad by the U.S. Special Forces in a covert operation ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama. Bin Laden is believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks in New York, which killed more than 3,000 people, as well as other terrorist attacks, such as bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed hundreds of people and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
May 31: Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemns the NATO air strike in southern Helmand province that targeted insurgents but instead killed a couple dozens of civilians. NATO apologizes for the strike, but it says these strikes are coordinated with the Afghan forces.
July 12: Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Harzai’s powerful half- brother and controversial governor of the southern city of Kandahar, Ahmad Wali Karzai, is assassinated by one of his trusted security men. The Taliban claims responsibility. (July 17): President Hamid Karzai’s senior advisor, Jan Mohammad Khan, is assassinated by the Taliban in an attack on his home in Kabul. (July 27): Mayor of Kandahar Ghulam Haidar Hameedi is assassinated in a suicide attack. He is another victim of the Taliban that has been targeting Afghanistan’s prominent figures. The violence comes at the time when NATO has begun to implement a plan of handing over control of seven areas to local forces. The handover is supposed to be finished before the foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
August 29: Nepal
Nepalese parliament elects a Maoist Baburam Bhattarai new prime minister after the resignation of Jhalnath Khanal who failed to reach an agreement with the opposition on a new constitution and how to integrate about 20,000 of former Maoist fighters. Bhattarai vows to reach a consensus within six months. Since the end of the Maoist insurgency in 2006, Nepal has lacked an effective government.
September 6: India/Bangladesh
During a visit to Bangladesh by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first in 12 years, both countries sign an important accord agreeing on border demarcation and allowing Bangladeshi enclaves within India and Indian enclaves within Bangladesh to join their countries respectively. Both sides also agree to extend bilateral trade. The accord, however, fell short of other important agreements, such as water-sharing of common rivers and a transit route through Bangladeshi territory, which would give India a better connection to its northeastern states.
September 11: Afghanistan
Taliban insurgents hit the Afghan capital, Kabul, for 20 hours with a complex set of coordinated suicide attacks on the U.S. embassy, NATO headquarters, and Afghan police buildings, leaving 25 people dead. Some blame the Haqqani insurgent network, which is linked to the Taliban, but operates independently. The Afghan insurgent groups have stepped up violence in recent months, since NATO has started transferring power to Afghan forces.
September 20: Afghanistan
The chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council and the country’s former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, is killed in a suicide attack, becoming the latest victim of high profile assassinations. Under Rabbani’s leadership, the Council conducted negotiations with the Taliban.
October 4: Afghanistan/India
Leaders of Afghanistan and India sign a strategic partnership expanding cooperation in security, development, and education. India is one of Afghanistan’s biggest donors; it has so far pledged $2 billion in aid.
November 1: Nepal
After several years of gridlock, Nepal’s major political parties agree the future of former Maoist fighters, the last part of the peace deal that ended 10 years of Maoist insurgency. According to the deal, about one third of the former insurgents will be integrated into the country’s security forces, while the rest of them will receive financial compensation.