Posts published in “Day: February 29, 2016”

The writer is a Pakistani journalist and author based in Lahore. His latest book is Pakistan on the Brink — The Future of America, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Countries involved in the Afghan peace process say direct talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban are expected to take place in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in the first week of March. It would be the first such meeting of the two sides since July when Kabul-Taliban…

The first week of March is supposed to see Round Two of direct talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban, hosted and faciliated by Pakistan. However, while the quadrilateral group (Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China) has met several times to talk peace, it has so far done so without any inputs from the Taliban. So while some tenuous consensus seemed to have been arrived at by the four countries, the Taliban are not…

WITH the Quadrilateral Coordination Group on Afghanistan pressing for the resumption of talks between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban, it was always likely that Taliban groups either opposed to talks or seeking to gain an advantage at the negotiating table would ramp up attacks inside Afghanistan.Adding to that possibility is the onset of the main fighting season as winter winds down in Afghanistan. Yet, attacks such as the one that took place in…

A policeman was killed and another 30 were detained during a joint operation between Afghan troops and U.S. forces last week against police suspected of supporting Taliban insurgents in embattled Helmand province, officials told Reuters on Sunday. Reports of fighting between police and soldiers add to the upheaval in the southern province, long a stronghold of the insurgency, where the military has abandoned several outposts. The NATO-led coalition and the Afghan government are trying to…

The Taliban militants have suffered heavy casualties in ongoing military operations by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in western Farah province of Afghanistan. According to the local security officials, the operations are being conducted in various districts where anti-government armed militants are having presence and conduct insurgency activities. An Afghan army official said at least 40 Taliban insurgents have been killed during the operations so far and around 50 others have sustained injuries. The…

The Taliban militants have suffered heavy casualties in a series of air and ground operations in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, local officials said Sunday. Provincial police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh said clashes are underway in Dasht-e-Archi district as the Afghan forces are busy in clearance operations against the anti-government armed militants. He said at least 61 militants have been killed so far which include 3 of the group’s commanders and scores of others were…

At least 600 Afghan nationals have reportedly been arrested by Pakistani police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan amid concerns that the refugees in the country are being hassled due to expired registration cards. According to the local media reports, citing police authorities in Nowshera, the Afghan nationals were arrested for illegally staying in the district. Wahid Mehmood, Nowshera district police officer, has said the arrests were made over a period of two days under…

A distressing video has emerged from the northwestern Badghis province of Afghanistan which purportedly shows horrific torture of a tribal elder by the Taliban militants before he is executed. Local police officials have confirmed that the tribal elder Haji Allah Dad was recently captured by the Taliban militants after he visited the Taliban-controlled area. Provincial police chief Abdul Halim Saberi said the Haji Allah Dad was cooperating with the Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces in…

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have discovered a huge cache of Taliban weapons from the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan, local officials said Sunday. The cache included various types of explosives and weapons, including the ones left from the Soviet era and the newly-supplied Iran-made weapons and explosives. Provincial governor Mohammad Zahir Zahir told reporters that the cache was discovered during a special operation conducted by the Afghan Intelligence – National Directorate of Security…

During the regime of Taliban, Islamabad tried to make the over 2,000-kilometre Durand Line a permanent border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a former diplomat of Taliban reveals. Mullah Abdul Salam Zaif who was ambassador of Taliban to Islamabad says the country tried three times to formalize the border but it repeatedly received a negative response. According to Mullah Zaif, first time Pakistan urged Taliban to accept the border when Mullah Abdul Raziq appointed as the…