Posts published in “Day: June 27, 2016”

-KABUL: Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that Daesh, also known as the Islamic State in Europe, is no more a serious threat for Afghanistan. “Daesh fighters were suppressed seriously in different provinces. This terrorist group is not a big challenge now for Afghan security forces,” said the MoD’s spokesman General Dawlat Waziri. The spokesman said that earlier Daesh was posing a serious challenge to the government forces, and the nation was concerned over activities of…

At least 30 militants fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during clashes in eastern Nangarhar province. The incident took place in the early hours of Friday morning in the restive Kot district after the ISIS loyalists launched a coordinated attack on police check posts. According to the local officials, at least 15 civilians were also wounded during the clashes and were shifted to the nearest hospital for…

WASHINGTON – US warplanes in Afghanistan have launched airstrikes against Taliban targets in recent days under new authority granted to the top commander there to help Afghan forces achieve “catastrophic success,” according to a media report. The expanded authorities allow Army Gen John Nicholson to bolster Afghan offensives with US combat advisers, airstrikes, surveillance aircraft and pilots to fly alongside the fledgling Afghan air force, USA TODAY reported on Friday, citing a Defence official. Nicholson…

KHAR: Security forces claimed on Friday to have repulsed an attack on their checkposts in border areas of Nawagai tehsil in Bajaur Agency by militants from Afghanistan’s Kunar province. “At least two militants were injured as security forces successfully repulsed the cross-border attack in several areas of Nawagai in the small hours of Friday,” security officials said. They said the militants had fired rockets and mortar shells at several checkposts located along the Pak-Afghan border.…

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok)- The United States has ruled out involving India, Iran and any other country in the Afghan peace process until actual negotiations with the Taliban kick off. “With regard to the quadrilateral there clearly is a role at some point for other countries in the region,” Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson said as he essentially ruled out involving India and Iran in the ongoing Taliban peace efforts through the four-way…

To the list of things that should not be uttered in modern China, add these: Padded bras cause cancer. The earth is on the brink of falling into a period of darkness for six days. Robots will soon conquer entire industries and eliminate the need for human labor. These were among the seemingly trivial posts on WeChat, a popular messaging app, that have been censored, according to a study by Citizen Lab at the University…

SHANGHAI—Three years ago, when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited China, the nationalist-leaning Global Times newspaper couldn’t resist a dig at the former imperialist power. The U.K., it scoffed in an editorial, “is no longer any kind of ‘big country’ but merely a country of old Europe suitable for tourism and study.” For China, Britain has since grown in stature and importance—and its position as a political and economic leader in Europe has been a…

BEIJING — From his start as an aspiring diplomat in China’s Foreign Ministry in 1959 to his days as an ambassador in Paris and Geneva, Wu Jianmin represented the best of his country’s diplomacy: firm but reasonable, gracious but not unctuous. In retirement, he became an unusually outspoken advocate for China’s remaining open to the outside world, warning that the nationalism that had grown under President Xi Jinping should be kept in check. Mr. Wu,…

China always insists direct and peaceful negotiation with relevant countries to resolve the South China Sea issue, Chinese experts said on Friday at the Japan’s National Press Club. Wu Shicun, president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told a press conference that the core of the South China Sea issue is disputes over sovereignty and maritime administration of parts of Nan Sha Islands between China and other claimant countries. He said China…

The writer is a senior journalist with The Daily Star, Bangladesh. It appears that ISIS is in big trouble in some of the major towns of Syria, where Iraqi and Syrian regular forces and Peshmerga fighters are closing in steadily, as we come to know from various Middle-Eastern media reports. A recent news release detailed how some ISIS jihadists have been trying to get out of the towns, alongside the civilian population fleeing from violence.…