Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to create mechanisms to resolve their border issues. That the understanding was reached only after drawing blood and a lot of jingoistic hype goes to the discredit of the decision makers on both sides. The statements issued by the two on Sunday have identical content and similar almost wording. We are told that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere marked by a mutual desire to amicably resolve border…
Posts published in “Day: June 22, 2016”
Afghanistan and Pakistan returned to the talks table on Monday with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai visiting here to meet Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry. High on the agenda was how to manage the border between the two countries. Pakistan, despite the fact that there is nothing illegal or unreasonable about its decision to either build gates along the border or demand identification from those crossing it, has now taken a more conciliatory tone,…
Insurgent activities are at their highest level this year. Violence has increased by 14 percent in first three months of 2016, compared to the same period last year, says the United Nations in a new report on Afghanistan. The report says that the peace talks with Taliban are deadlocked. It also criticizes the Afghan government for not bringing about enough reforms in election bodies. The UN says that between 16 February and 19 May this…
The Taliban militants group in Afghanistan has claimed that snatching passengers from the highways is not an act of kidnapping. The Taliban group spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid issued a statement following the kidnapping of scores of passengers in Helmand province. In his statement, Mujahid said the Taliban fighters took passengers from at least 3 buses with them amid suspicions they work for the security institutions of the country. Mujahid further added that 27 people were taken…
At least 18 militants were killed in an airstrike in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Tuesday. The airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Garziwan district targeting the militants, MoD said, adding that 8 more militants were critically wounded in the raid. The Ministry of Defense also added that two vehicles belonging to the militants were also destroyed in the airstrike. The anti-government armed militant groups including the…
The Hezb-e-Islami party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has reportedly issued new impossible-to-meet demands to sign a peace agreement with the Afghan government. An official privy to the development has told The Associated Press that the new demands include cancellation of pacts with the United States, a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and that it be signed by a new government. A member of Hezb-e-Islami negotiating team has said the demands were made in…
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s concerns over India’s role in Afghanistan were “overestimated”, US special envoy Richard Olson said on Tuesday, while urging Pakistan to focus its attention on fighting terrorists. Addressing a think tank, the Atlantic Council, in Washington, Mr Olson also said the United States would provide more than $3 billion a year in support for the Afghan national security forces from 2018 through 2020. Mr Olson, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said…
The killing spree in Bangladesh, considered to be driven by Islamists, has taken a new turn recently. Once, it was considered a US based conspiracy to interfere in Bangladesh matters. But the matter has directly involved the Indians now, making it an international problem. While Bangladesh is trying to strengthen its “Islamic Ummah” credentials by offering to send troops to assist Saudi Arabia to protect Islamic holy sites, the Hindu Ummah led by India is…
Close to 99 percent of former Hindu and Sikh citizens of Afghanistan have left the country over the past three decades. An investigation by TOLOnews reveals that the Sikh and Hindu population number was 220,000 in the 1980’s. That number dropped sharply to 15,000 when the mujahideen was in power during the 1990’s and remained at that level during the Taliban regime. It is now estimated that only 1,350 Hindus and Sikhs remain in the…
Residents of villages near Wukan in southern Guangdong province say they are involved in land disputes similar to their neighbour’s, but are not being heard because they lack financial support and competent leadership. Liu Yongjiang, a resident of Xialongtan about 5km from Wukan, said officials in his village had made 200 million yuan (HK$236 million) by selling communal land, a hotel and two other properties that belonged to villagers. Xialongtan’s case was similar to the…
Hong Kong radical localist group Civic Passion recently launched an absurd Hong Kong “national” flag design contest. The group claimed that it would announce the result on July 1 when it would hold a flag raising ceremony. It released 63 designs, with only about 1,000 people voting online. The group later announced a change to the location of the ceremony to somewhere along the July 1 march, in an obvious move to attract attention. Not…