QUETTA: After decades of stagnancy in Balochistan, the provincial government intends to bring major changes in development planning, relegating politics and vested interest groups to sidelines. The government, sources said, intends to urgently provide at least half of the proposed Rs60 billion development budget at the outset, kicking off major projects such as the Quetta Bulk Water Supply Scheme and the Mass Transit System. In a bid to provide better civic services to the people…
Posts published in “Day: June 10, 2016”
The writer is a freelance columnist. The killing of Osama-bin–Laden on May 2, 2011, by US Naval SEALs in a campaign coded as “Operation Neptune Spear at Abbottabad, can be likened to the recent demise of Mullah Mansour, but this time the stage was set at Noshki, Balochistan, but once more in the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan.The US then alleged that Pakistan’s spy chief, Lt. Gen.Shuja Pasha was well conversant with the movement of the…
KABUL – Second Vice-President Sarwar Danish on Wednesday insisted on holding the parliamentary and district council elections this solar year and urged lawmakers to approve the presidential decree on electoral reform to pave the way for the polls. Addressing the lower house of parliament, Danish said it was joint responsibility of the government and the parliament to facilitate conduct of elections. “The international community considers elections and electoral reform in Afghanistan as preconditions for cooperation…
WASHINGTON – The U.S State Department said in its annual report on terrorism that the Taliban conducted more terror attacks in 2015 than Daesh – effectively putting Afghanistan’s insurgent group at the top of the global terror log. The report stated that the Taliban carried out 1093 attacks in 2015 against Daesh’s 931. Afghan Senator Gul Mohammad Rasouly layed the blame on neighboring countries. “Taliban have direct contact with Pakistan’s ISI and the ISI have…
WASHINGTON: US government’s top watchdog said about Afghanistan that the United States had wasted billions of dollars in reconstruction aid to Afghanistan over the past decade and now a renewed Taliban insurgency is threatening the gains that had been made. Congress had appropriated nearly $113 billion for reconstruction since 2001, when US-led forces invaded the country and toppled the Taliban regime. According to a series of reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction…
The Afghan security forces have arrested a would-be suicide bomber in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, the security authorities said Thursday. The detained would-be bomber has been identified as Dr. Mohammad Qasim and the Afghan security forces have confiscated a suicide bombing vest along with some weapons and explosives from the suspect. No further details have been given regarding the suspect and the potential target he was looking to attack. The anti-government armed militant groups…
Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Thursday announced that Helmand’s former police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang will be introduced to the attorney general for legal investigations within two days. The ministry said he is being investigated on charges of exploiting his official powers, establishing ghost police and underestimating his responsibilities in the war with insurgents. Meanwhile, Kintoz, the new police chief of Helmand said that statistics show almost 50 percent of police personnel reported in…
The US President Barack Obama has approved broader role for the US military to assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to fight the Taliban-led insurgency. According to reports, the broader role granted to the US military will allow them to accompany Afghan forces and assist them more proactively on the battlefield. US defense officials have said the decision would also allow greater use of U.S. air power, particularly close air support. The…
Prime Minister Modi enthralled US Congressmen with his charm and played on common democratic values, despite being guilty of doing otherwise back home. Standing on the high pedestal of the US-India partnership in the Asia Pacific region and India’s emerging lead-role in the Indian Ocean, Mr. Modi intelligently used the congressmen’s concerns about terrorism to build a case against the “incubator of terrorism in the neighborhood” — a clear reference to Pakistan without, however, naming…
The writer is a retired air-vicemarshal, former ambassador and a security and political analyst. Narendra Modi addressed the US Congress this Wednesday. He is not the first Indian prime minister to do so but at a moment when India’s own profile is rising for the better in South Asia, it could be propitious for India’s global status. In a month’s time the Nuclear Suppliers Group will convene to consider both India and Pakistan’s requests for…
Regional politics is increasingly becoming feverish. With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US, the civil and military leadership of Pakistan got together for an ‘extraordinary’ meeting. Key members of the cabinet – minus Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan – met at the GHQ with the top military brass to discuss key regional issues, including Afghanistan and the CPEC. The statements that came out of the meeting reflected the increasing regional tensions. After…