The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have take full control of Dand-e-Ghori district from Taliban militants following weeks of clearance operations. According to local government officials, the control of the district completely fell to Afghan forces after a major offensive was launched late last night. The officials further added that several Taliban militants were killed but the exact number has not been ascertained so far and scores of others fled the area. The Taliban militants…
Posts published in “Day: March 4, 2016”
The Afghan intelligence operatives arrested six more kidnappers from capital Kabul during the recent operations, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said. A statement by NDS said the latest arrests were made a week after a group of 5 kidnappers were arrested in connection to the kidnapping case of a 14-year-old child. The statement further added that the previously arrested suspects disclosed the identities of their colleagues who were arrested during an operation. According to…
A top Mafia leader was arrested by the Afghan intelligence operatives during an operation in northern Parwan province of Afghanistan. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said a group of five kidnappers including a woman were also arrested together with the Mafia leader during an operation by the NDS operatives. A statement by NDS said the detained Mafia leader was famous as Major Geدeral Paikar who was leading a gang of the kidnappers. The statement…
The Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah dismissed speculations about the planned hand over of certain districts to the anti-government armed militant groups. Speaking during a joint session of the Afghan parliament and cabinet of ministers, Abdullah said the speculations have been rife since the security institutions have started shifting certain security posts to the central bases in some provinces. The session was also attended by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, members of the parliament and cabinet…
The writer is a former ambassador. The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), comprising representatives from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States, held its fourth meeting in Kabul on February 23, 2016 to consider the means restoring peace in Afghanistan. The QCG members have invited the Taliban and other warring groups to participate in the first round of direct peace talks with the Afghan government in Islamabad in the first week of March 2016. The QCG…
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office appears optimistic that the inaugural round of reconciliation dialogue between the Afghan government and Taliban would be held in a few days in Pakistan. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria, speaking at the weekly media briefing, recalled the agreement reached at the last meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) countries for possibly opening direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban groups by the first week of March. He…
PESHAWAR: Afghan ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal has said the atmosphere of mistrust and fears has marred the relations between his country and Pakistan and therefore, concrete measures should be taken to build mutual trust. “There is no dispute between the two countries except distrust. Both the countries should take serious steps for building trust,” he said during a brief chat with media here on Thursday. When a journalist asked that Pakistan was asking for action…
KABUL: Afghanistan’s top negotiator has termed the Taliban’s Qatar office a ‘legitimate interlocutor’, saying his government is at ease with opening peace talks with its political representatives. “At this stage, we are comfortable with starting with the Doha office. Once the process matures, we can start bringing in other elements,” Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai said during an informal discussion with members of a Pakistani delegation to the track-II security dialogue. “The Doha…
WASHINGTON: Pakistani officials publicly highlighted their influence on the Afghan Taliban leadership in the US capital this week, underlining the importance of their country’s role in promoting the Afghan reconciliation process. Yet, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, who led a Pakistani delegation at the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington this week, surprised many by this public acknowledgment of a presence that Islamabad has been denying for years. A transcript of his talk at the…
PESHAWAR – Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Muhammad Umar Zakhelwal said on Thursday that TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah was hiding in an area, where Afghan government has no control. He, however, maintained that efforts are underway for arresting or eliminating of all the terrorists, whether they are from Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other country. “I want make it clear that Afghan government and its people will never allow anyone to work against Pakistan or harm…
HONG KONG — It’s all right to cry, even when you’re the leader of the world’s most populous nation. That was one message in an online report on Wednesday carried by several Communist Party and state media outlets that described a handful of known times when President Xi Jinping of China had shed tears. The story didn’t portray Mr. Xi as weepy — with just four documented cries since the 1960s, he’s no John Boehner,…