Posts published in “Day: March 7, 2016”

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has jumped in personally to calm down the clerics before they explode into streets as he takes the threat from the religious parties seriously, The Nation learnt. The brewing anti-government storm is spearheaded by key ally Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal) and has attracted all the prominent religious parties. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman is furious over the execution of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s killer Mumtaz Qadri and the introduction…

The writer is a former civil servant. AFGHANISTAN is an unfortunate country in two respects. It is divided culturally, linguistically and more important politically. The tribes — particularly the Pakhtun tribes — never fully surrendered their autonomy to the central government. Their loyalty has to be bought on a per-day, per-month and per-year basis, depending on the nature of the bargain. There is/was no one-time payment or settlement unless sanctioned by the Loya Jirga. Then,…

THE road to a peace settlement in Afghanistan is likely to be a rough one and the Afghan Taliban have provided yet another example of why. Ostensibly rejecting what were believed to be imminent talks with the Afghan government, the Mansour Akhtar faction of the Taliban have returned to familiar preconditions: withdrawal of all foreign troops; removing Taliban leaders from international blacklists, which impeded travel; and the release of Taliban prisoners. The familiarity of those…

The decision by the Mullah Akhtar Mansoor faction of the Afghan Taliban to pull out of proposed peace talks with the Afghanistan government should be seen as the opening gambit in a long negotiation rather than the end of such talks. The Taliban have said they will not take part in the negotiations as long as the Afghanistan government launches operations against them, foreign fighters are present in the country and Taliban members are kept…

In efforts to revive the negotiation process the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government have suffered a possibly decisive blow as the main faction of the group denied that it had any plans to join the process. Moreover, the statement also dubbed the entire process “futile”. The statement read: “We unequivocally state that the leader of Islamic Emirate (Afghan Taliban’s name for itself) has not authorised anyone to participate in this meeting.” To be a…

At least 39 anti-government armed militants were killed in the latest counter-terrorism operations of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in various provinces of the country. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 29 militants were also injured and 10 suspected militants were arrested during the same operations. A statement by MoD said at least 16 of the militants were killed in Abkamari district of Badghis province and 20 others were wounded. The statement…

15 militants from the terrorist group of the Islamic State (IS) which also goes by its Arabic name Daesh have been killed in a drone strike in eastern Nangarhar province. According to Nangarhar Media Center, the insurgents were targeted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAE) in Mamond Dara area of Achin district last night. It further states that weapons and ammunition of the militants were also destroyed in the attack. U.S. Forces in Afghanistan have increased…

The Taliban’s Quetta Shura is leading the war in Musa Qala district of southern Helmand province, said a number of Helmand Provincial Council members and civil society activists. They said that a number of Quetta Shura members have come to the district to lead the war against Afghan security forces. They asked the concerned organizations to prevent an influx of the Taliban Quetta Shura members to the district. “If the government can not prevent this…

Addressing the opening of Parliament on Sunday after the winter break, President Ashraf Ghani said the “Taliban is facing a major test – to choose whether they want peace or war.” Ghani said that Afghanistan has been engaged in an undeclared war with Pakistan, warning foreign militants against conducting terror activities inside Afghanistan territory. Ghani also said that Afghanistan is the only country where Daesh is on the run and “it will become a grave…

Direct peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban militants group has reportedly been postponed for a week or two, a day after Taliban rejected participation in the talks. Javid Faisal, deputy spokesman for Chief Executive Officer, has said the talks will likely start with some delays, despite the government was fully prepared for the talks. He said the members of the Quadrilateral coordination Group (QCG) are busy to organize the direct talks between the…