The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and a former federal secretary. He has also served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board Pakistan is a land of sharp contrasts. General Raheel Sharif captures moral high ground by his bold actions against senior officers who have been found to be perpetrators of mega corruption. In sharp contrast, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been rather evasive in establishing an effective commission…
Posts published in “Day: April 27, 2016”
The writer is a Pakistani investigative journalist and academic based in Doha and Istanbul. The Afghans bled profusely last Tuesday when terrorists attacked the NDS office, the country’s intelligence agency. It was a massive security breach claiming over 64 lives and leaving dozens injured. While Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah-Abdullah was absent from the Parliament’s joint session, President Ashraf Ghani’s rare address was directed at Islamabad, alleging Pakistan played a double game. “But we want Pakistan…
Afghanistan has rarely been tidy or indeed at peace either with itself or its neighbours for most of the time it has existed as a state. It has been the victim of endless meddling by external forces and agencies for centuries, and in 2016 it once again finds itself mired in conflict, saddled with an unstable and ineffective government that was formed around an externally evolved model, and moving towards failed statehood. The Taliban insurgency…
It is unfortunate that last week’s attack in Kabul finally drove that long hovering right through the QCG (Quadrilateral Coordination Group). Ghani clearly went the extra mile to salvage matters, but pressure from the opposition, the Abdullah Abdullah faction of government, and now senior members of his own party made it impossible for him to sell the talks back home any longer. Yet it is difficult to quantify what his detractors might have achieved by…
The Foreign Office has made it clear that Pakistan is making substantial efforts for peace in Afghanistan, but the country alone is not responsible to bring the Afghan Taliban on the table for dialogue. This is an apparent response to Afghan president’s recent speech, in which has renounced Pakistan’s efforts to play their part. The road to a peaceful settlement is inevitably bumpy, with Afghanistan far from moving towards reconciling.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s speech, threatening…
At least 33 militants were killed in air and ground operations of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 29 militants were also wounded during the operations which were conducted in Faryab, Herat, Baghlan, Helmand, and Maidan Wardak provinces. A statement by MoD said at least 18 of the militants were killed and 21 others were wounded in Garzewan district of Faryab, while…
The First Vice-President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum on Monday spoke about disputes and tension between high-ranking officials within the National Unity Government (NUG). Speaking from Jawzjan, where he is leading troops in clearance operations, Dostum told local tribal elders that the National Security Council (NSC) has in the past tried to curtail his anti-terrorist operations. “I suggested [trips] many times to the National Security Council and many times I told them about [a possible] Kunduz…
ISLAMABAD: In response to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s allegations, Pakistan on Tuesday rejected that it differentiates between terrorist groups. Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan condemns all forms and manifestation of terrorism and it is committed in the fight against this menace. Pakistan itself is the biggest victim of terrorism in which thousands of our security personnel have sacrificed their lives, he said. The spokesperson said Pakistan is making serious efforts for peace…
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office subtly admitted on Tuesday that a move to resuscitate the troubled Afghan peace and reconciliation process was under way. “Pakistan, along with other QCG [Quadrilateral Coordination Group] countries, was engaged in serious efforts for early direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban under the principle of shared commitment,” Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said at the Heart of Asia Senior Officials meeting in Delhi. FO spokesman Nafees Zakaria, in…
The Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan (MoFA) over heavy artillery shelling by Pakistan in eastern Nangarhar province. According to a statement by MoFA, a formal protest was lodged regarding the shelling by handing over an official Memo of the Afghan government to the Pakistani Ambassador. The statement further added that the deputy minister in administrative affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr.…
ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban on Wednesday confirmed a delegation is currently visiting Pakistan but said they are only discussing issues pertaining to refugees, the release of a senior leader and other prisoners. Diplomatic sources had earlier told The Express Tribune that a three-member delegation from the Afghan Taliban’s political office in Qatar arrived in Islamabad on Monday to discuss the restarting of peace talks with Kabul. Taliban’s Qatar office confirmed the visit; however, it did not…