By Sami Yousafzai, Jon Boone in Islamabad and Sune Engel Rasmussen in Kabul The Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government have restarted secret talks in the Gulf state of Qatar, senior sources within the insurgency and the Kabul government have told the Guardian. Among those present at the meetings held in September and October was Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, brother of Mullah Omar, the former Taliban chief who led the movement from its earliest…
Posts published in “Day: October 19, 2016”
Two terrorists belonging to the Haqqani terrorist network the Al-Qaeda network were killed in separate airstrikes in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said two terrorists belonging to Quetta council, normally referred to Taliban and Haqqani networks’ leadership councils, were also among those killed. No further details were given if the airstrikes were carried out by the Aghan Air Force or the US forces based in Afghanistan. MoD further added that…
The First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum suffered a minor injury during the Taliban ambush in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah confirmed Monday that the health condition of the First Vice President is satisfactory and he has suffered a minory injury in teh attack. CEO Abdullah was speaking during a meeting of the Ministers Council meeting ahead of his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Taliban…
Local officials of western Badghis province on Monday said that a commander of the National Directorate of Security’s (NDS) Special Forces in the province was killed in a Taliban ambush. The incident took place Monday afternoon when NDS’s Special Forces were travelling in Qades district of the province, provincial police chief Abdul Rouf Taj said adding that “the commander was killed during a clash with the Taliban.” Two insurgents were also killed in the clash…
Political commentators and some ex-Taliban commanders have said that Pakistan’s continued support of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada has had a significant impact on the unity of the Taliban, adding that interference into the affairs of the Taliban by Pakistan’s intelligence agency – Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) – has led to the emergence of more dissident factions within the group. Referring to recent reports that Pakistan had launched a crackdown against three top Taliban leaders, the commentators…
By Hu Weijia in Global Times, Oct 18, 2016 The author is a reporter with the Global Times. Germany is mulling protecting its local high-tech companies from investors in non-EU countries by giving wide-reaching rights to the government to prohibit company acquisitions, media reports said recently. The news came as a recent rush of Chinese investment into Germany’s high-tech sectors raised eyebrows among German society. Chinese home appliance manufacturer Midea’s recent move to acquire German…
The writer is an author, a public policy analyst and former interior secretary. The trail of events has brought Pakistan-India relations to a flashpoint. Voices emanating from key capitals are urging the exercise of maximum restraint. The Uri attack gave a twist to already beleaguered relations between the two countries. The rising intifada in Indian-held Kashmir since July has been reflected in the state of Pakistan-India relations. The Modi government has failed to engage with…
Indian PM Narendra Modi’s attempts to isolate Pakistan continue in earnest, even at a summit where Pakistan has no real business being the subject of discussion. What was supposed to be a conference for the five emerging nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was used a launchpad for more anti-Pakistan rhetoric in India’s latest attempts to win others over in taking a stance against Pakistan.Terming this country the “mothership of terrorism”, Modi seems…
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s remarks about terrorism in the BRICS summit in which he referred to Pakistan as the “mothership of terrorism” without actually naming it is a brazen manifestation of his current policy of vilifying Pakistan at the international stage, and raises serious concerns about his future foreign policy objectives vis-a-vis Pakistan. In an apparent bid to deliver on his words to internationally ‘isolate’ Pakistan, such diplomatic attacks by Modi risk being…
If ever Pakistan needed to look to the quality and efficacy of its diplomatic services then that time is now. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit has just ended in Goa and India has used it as a vehicle to promote is goal of the isolation of Pakistan — diplomatically, economically and any other variant of isolation it can lay tongue to. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the course of…
If ever Pakistan needed to look to the quality and efficacy of its diplomatic services then that time is now. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit has just ended in Goa and India has used it as a vehicle to promote is goal of the isolation of Pakistan — diplomatically, economically and any other variant of isolation it can lay tongue to. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the course of…