The writer works for Geo TV Pak-Afghan relations swing between love and hate. One day they are fighting together against a mighty invader but the very next day, they are at daggers drawn. This unique relationship has a specific cultural dimension, which has been ignored. There is a need to explore it and devise a policy accordingly. Our policymakers on Afghanistan are staunch patriots who strive hard to protect our national interest and ensure the…
Posts published in “Day: October 1, 2016”
The writer is a former member of the police service of Pakistan, This year Afghanistan’s 97th independence anniversary in August passed with a sense of concern for this nation. The security situation in Afghanistan portrays a rather bleak picture than ever before, defying all solutions. This is rather worrisome for the neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan. There is a heavy presence of the Taliban on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the principal city in the Helmand…
The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai being under criticims is not new specifically for his stance against the Taliban group but the objections have been on the rise during the recent days for his latest interview where he said the group can have control of the parts of the country similar as other Afghans. The Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah sharply cricitized Karzai for his remarks and emphasized that the former President should respond to…
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — At least 13 people were killed by an airstrike in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, with officials describing the victims as members of the Islamic State, while some residents claimed the dead were civilians. A United States military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, said that a “counterterrorism airstrike” had taken place in the area on Wednesday but that he could not discuss details. He added that the military…
Security officials in Badakhshan said on Wednesday they will destroy militants’ hideouts in the province in a short time if they receive orders from Kabul. The officials said Taliban militants are not able to fight face-to-face against security forces. “We are not in an a defensive mode. We have put pressure on the insurgents in Badakhshan,” said Badakhshan Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Ghafoori. “Taliban carried out two large attacks against us but they were defeated.…
The Taliban militant group and other irresponsible militant groups are recruiting children as soldiers in their ranks, local officials in Ghor province said. Zabiulalh Jawad, the provincial Independent Human Rights Chief, has told RFERL that they have credible evidences and documents to prove that Taliban are recruiting children to fight for the group. Provincial governor’s spokesman, Abdulhai Khatebi confirmed the remarks by the Independent Human Rights Commission, saying the group is actively recruiting childre in…
PRIME MINISTER Nawaz Sharif has perhaps done all that he could to draw the international community’s attention to the Kashmiri people’s ordeal. He and members of his large entourage spoke of India-held Kashmir to whoever they met in New York. By all accounts offered by our media services, the Kashmir mission, carried out with unusual vigour, went off well — this despite a slight slip while drafting the press release on the meeting with US…
The writer is DG of SSII, a private think tank, and a PTI MNA The Kashmir dispute as it has come to the fore once again has also shown the limitations of the traditional rhetoric of both Pakistan and India even as successive generations of Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir continue to lay down their lives in resisting Indian occupation and the brutality unleashed once again by the occupation Indian military. While India continues to…
Is SAARC coming apart: by Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan ndc, psc (Retd), The Daily Star, Sept 29, 2016
The writer is Associate Editor of the daily .WHEN we speak of SAARC, we usually hear two reactions – cynicism and skepticism,” Modi had told the 18th Kathmandu summit, which was to be held in 2012 but postponed to 2014. “Yet, South Asia is slowly coming together” he had added. Given that the latest Summit postponement is the ninth since SAARC came into being in 1985, one wonders whether the regional grouping is falling apart.…
A DAY after insinuating that India may use water as a weapon against Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made another unfortunate, though perhaps less surprising, decision: his government will boycott the Saarc summit scheduled for November in Islamabad. Disappointingly, it was followed by Bangladesh’s decision to do the same. Mr Modi’s participation in the head-of-government summit has long been a subject of speculation, with Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale suggesting only…
Through an announcement on Twitter by the official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, India has pulled out of the official South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit planned to be held in Islamabad in November 2016. In an open reference to Pakistan, the Indian statement alleged Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism, and its supposed “interference in the internal affairs of Member States” as the reason behind its decision. This…