Posts published in “Day: February 8, 2016”

The writer is former executive editor of The News It is a great sight: Pakistan and Afghanistan security kingpins sitting together trying to iron out differences. Even better is to hear Abdullah Abdullah, Kabul’s significant co-sharer of power with President Ashraf Ghani and a habitual critic of the Pakistan Army and the ISI, indicate timelines by which the Taliban will agree to join the talks. No less reassuring is the Chinese wielding formidable influence with…

Another meeting to push forward the Afghan reconciliation process has ended with yet another call to the Afghan Taliban to join the talks. It is clear that all actors participating in the talks are now tired of the cycle of violence that has impacted life in Afghanistan for the last decade and a half. However, the third meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, seems to be…

The draw-down of US forces in Afghanistan has led to the Afghan army being severely tested over the past few months. With the Taliban gaining ground, ISIS vying for a greater portion of political space and the government and the army struggling to contain the increasing attacks all over the country, a positive outcome through the next round of talks – reportedly scheduled later this month – between the government and the Taliban is crucial…

The Afghan National Police (ANP) forces have managed to rescue 80 passengers abducted by the Taliban militants in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan. The provincial police commandment in a statement said the abducted passengers were rescued during a military operation. The statement further added that the passengers were kidnapped by Taliban militants around 5:00 pm local time from Maimana-Andkhoi highway in Qaramqol district. The passengers were travelling in two buses when the Taliban militants stopped…

The National Directorate of Security (NDS)—Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has arrested five agents of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in northeastern Afghanistan. Security officials in Badakhshan province say the arrested ISI agents include two men and three women who had covered themselves as health workers in Baharak and Kisham districts. Officials add that police also took part in the operation to arrest the agents. Public Health Directorate of Badakhshan province says the arrested suspects do…

37 militants have been killed in newest security operations in different parts of the country, the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday morning. According to a statement issued by the ministry, six of the terrorists killed were commanders of Taliban group. They include Qari Bashir and Haji Khalid who were collecting intelligence information for Taliban in Dand-e-Ghori District. Other important members of Taliban killed during these operations include Mullah Ismail, Mullah Mutahid, Haji Mullah and…

By NAJIM RAHIM, DAVID JOLLY and AHMAD SHAKIB KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — Farhad Azyanfar, a student of Dari literature at the university in Kunduz, watched in fear as a few hundred Taliban fighters overran and defeated a larger but demoralized government force to capture this northern city in September. He was relieved several weeks later when the insurgents left the city after a combined American and Afghan counterattack, but the feeling was short-lived: He and many…

By Sune Engel Rasmussen & Aimal Yaqoubi in the Guardian, Feb 7, 2016 at 21.08 GMT Kabul: The Taliban are inching closer to capturing Sangin district as the militants intensify their prolonged assault on government forces in Afghanistan’s pivotal Helmand province. After the insurgents almost overran the district in December, the Afghan army and police sent reinforcements to stave them off. Since then, security forces have maintained a small bastion consisting of a few government…

President Ashraf Ghani after mounting criticism of the worsening security situation over recent months, people familiar with the matter said. The resignation offer, which the sources said had not yet been accepted, deals a further blow to Ghani’s struggling government, which is without a permanent defence minister and which recently lost the head of its intelligence service just as the Taliban has stepped up its insurgency. It also highlights the deep fractures in the national…

ISLAMABAD: The third meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) pushing for a revival of the Afghan peace process on Saturday announced that it was hopeful that direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups could take place as early as the end of this month which will also see the QCG meeting in Kabul on February 23. Of importance was the fact that the group also adopted a roadmap…