The Afghan lawmakers have approved Gen. Taj Mohammad Jahid as the new Minister of Interior during a voting process today. Gen. Jahid received 190 votes of confidence from the lawmakers in the Lower House of the Parliament, Wolesi Jirga and was approved for the post. He was introduced to the Afghan lawmakers along with the nominees for the Attorney General Office and member of the Supreme Court. Gen. Jahid was nominated for the post of…
Posts published in “Day: April 12, 2016”
A senior Taliban commander has reportedly released a letter proposing a new strategy for the movement that includes negotiating with the Afghan government, the United States and other Western governments. Al Jazeera reported this week that Mullah Qayyum Zakir reportedly said in a statement to top Taliban members, the leadership of the movement must embrace new internal and external policies. Zakir’s 12-point proposal reportedly includes negotiating with the Afghan government along with foreign governments on…
A senior Taliban leader Mullah Qayum Zakir has proposed that the Taliban leadership should hold peace talks with the Afghan government, United States and other Western countries. In a letter to the Taliban group’s council, Mullah Zakir has proposed that the Taliban group should adopt a new strategy for the movement’s internal and external policies. The 12-point proposal form by Zakir also includes implementation of Islamic law, and improving military strategy and coordination within the…
President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday met the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Olson, and discussed security issues and the peace process, the Presidential Palace said Sunday in a statement. According to the statement, both sides discussed preparations for the bilateral commission, regional issues, security cooperation, peace process and the upcoming Brussels and Warsaw conferences. At the meeting, Ghani reportedly thanked the U.S for its assistance to Afghanistan, in particular in military affairs…
WASHINGTON: The United States and Afghanistan agreed on Saturday to continue joint efforts for combating terrorism beyond 2016, when the current arrangement for keeping US forces in that country expires. In a statement issued in Washington, the US State Department said that US forces would carry out two important missions after 2016: training, advising, and assisting the official Afghan forces in coordination with international partners; and “cooperating bilaterally on shared efforts to counter terrorism.” Earlier…
KABUL: US Secretary of State John Kerry called on the Taliban to re-enter peace talks with the Afghan government during an unannounced visit on Saturday during which he showed his support for Afghanistan’s unity government that he had helped create 18 months ago. “We discussed our shared goal of launching peace talks with the Taliban,” he told reporters at a joint press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. “We call on the Taliban to enter…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hopes to break this month a deadlock in the nascent Afghan peace process, The Express Tribune has learnt from credible sources. The initiative, led by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the United States, came to a dead-end when the Afghan Taliban refused to attend a face-to-face meeting with Afghan negotiators in Islamabad in the first week of March. “In spite of the Taliban’s refusal, Pakistan has…
New York: Defence Secretary Ashton Carter laid out US administration’s stance vis-à-vis India and Pakistan, saying Washington has “much more to do” with Delhi today than with Islamabad. He clearly outlined US stance vis-a-vis the South Asian neighbours in reply to a question about the impact of the closer India-US relationship on Pakistan. “The days are gone when we only deal with India as the other side of the Pakistan coin, or Pakistan as the…
GWADAR, Pakistan—A Pakistani brigade of 2,000 soldiers guards a small contingent of Chinese workers here from the threat of jihadists and separatists, reflecting the challenge of turning this remote fishing town into the hub of an economic corridor between the two nations. Developing Gwadar would give China a new trade link from its relatively undeveloped west to key Arabian Sea shipping routes at the mouth of the oil-rich Persian Gulf—giving it potentially strategic as well…
NOWSHERA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Saturday accused the federal government of deceiving the provincial government on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and announced to hold another all parties conference (APC) to discuss the issue and adopt a joint stance. He was talking to reporters after addressing a public meeting in Nowshera Kalan here. The chief minister said the dispatched reply of the federal government to the letter of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government regarding CPEC…
SHANGHAI: China’s air force on Saturday began joint training exercises with that of Pakistan, China’s defence ministry said, as the two nations’ militaries strengthen operational ties. The countries call each other ‘‘all-weather friends’’, with ties underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence in Asia. ‘‘China’s Air Force hopes to widen the scope of cooperation and dialogue with all countries and regions,’’ the Chinese defence ministry…