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Posts published in “Day: September 9, 2016

Taliban launches surprise surge intoformer southern Afghan stronghold: By Sayed Salahuddin in The Washington Post, Sept 8, 2016 at 12:56 PM

KABUL — Taliban fighters waged street­by­street gun battles against Afghan forces Thursday in an isolated southern city that was once a militant stronghold, pushing hard toward government offices as Afghan helicopter gunships tried to slow the advance, officials said. The surprise attack on Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, came as Taliban forces in recent weeks have seized new territory around the country and made aggressive moves on another strategic city, Kabul, where they…

Taliban Close to Overtaking Afghan Provincial Capital, Officials Say By TAIMOOR SHAH and MUJIB MASHAL in The NY Times, Sept 9, 2016

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents on Thursday were on the verge of overrunning the southern city of Tirin Kot, the capital of Oruzgan Province, Afghan officials and local elders said. Dost Mohammad Nayab, a spokesman for the governor of Oruzgan, said that all security posts around the city had been overrun by the Taliban and that the insurgents had started firing on the police headquarters and the governor’s compound. “The security forces are engaged with…

Freight Train Arrives From China, Link Set To Boost Trade by Zabihullah Jhanmal in ToloNews, sept 8, 2o16 at 20.01hrs

The first ever freight train from China arrived in Hairatan port in northern Balkh province this week after travelling 3,000 kms across China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Onboard was 45 containers full of goods, according to officials from the ministry of public works. The ministry said trade between China and Afghanistan was critical and that the new rail link would expand trade between the two countries considerably. Meanwhile, the ministry of commerce and industries said that…

Afghanistan-Iran railway construction kicks off near Herat: By KHAAMA PRESS – Thu Sep 08 2016, 9:38 pm

The construction of a railway line between Afghanistan and Iran officially kicked off near the western Herat province of Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to the local officials, the construction work of the railway line in Afghanistan launched as 90 percent of the railway work inside the Iranian soil has been completed. The railway line will be established from Iran to Ghoryan district and will further go towards Zindjan district and Herat Airport. The latest development…

Pakistan can’t pick and choose terror groups to go after: US report in Pakistan Today, September 9, 2016

The United States on Thursday told Pakistan it can’t pick and choose which terrorist groups it goes after and has to target militants who seek to harm its neighbours by taking refuge on its territory. “We have a strong bilateral relationship with Pakistan, but one that is premised on counterterrorism cooperation and as — as part of that conversation, or that dialogue and that cooperation that we have on counterterrorism issues, we made it very…

US senate panel humiliates Pakistan again, virtually calls it a terrorist state By Chidanand Rajghatta in Times of India, Sept 9, 2016

WASHINGTON: Pakistan was humiliated in an open US senate hearing on Thursday with lawmakers and witnesses confirming its terrorism-sponsoring credentials and seeking to further curtail aid to the country if it did not modify its behaviour. In a remarkably candid hearing, US senators openly accused Pakistan of killing of American soldiers in Afghanistan through proxies after perfidiously skimming US taxpayer dollars. They called Pakistan duplicitous. Supported by expert witnesses, including a former CIA station chief…

Lingering threats to CPEC: edit in Pakistan Today, Sept 8, 2016 at 18:45 hrs

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is the harbinger of huge investment in infrastructural and energy projects in Pakistan, China will have entry to the warm waters of Indian Ocean and beyond through Pakistan. The project is expected to serve over three million people, which forms sizeable part nearly half of the human family. The project promises enormous economic potentials if it is implemented in time as the visualized plan. One of China’s most ambitious economic…

44 Pakistanis working on CPEC killed in terror attacks since 2014 Report in Daily Times, Sept 9, 2016

KARACHI: Militants trying to disrupt construction of an “economic corridor” linking China with Pakistan’s coast have killed 44 workers since 2014, an official said on Thursday, a rising toll likely to reinforce Chinese worry about the project’s security. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a $46 billion network of roads, railways and energy pipelines linking western China to a deepwater port on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, which passes through Balochistan. Officials say they have taken…

Mao business: by Zhang Yu in Global Times, Sept 8, 2016 at 19.18hrs

Shaoshan: Taxi drivers place small busts of Chairman Mao on their cars’ dashboard to protect them on their journey. Small business owners enshrine Mao in their homes and in their shops, hoping it could bring in more profits and good luck, despite the lifelong anti-capitalist efforts of the late leader. Local government officials offer memorial wreaths to Mao’s bronze statue during Chinese New Year, in the hope that they would be promoted. In supermarkets, Mao’s…