Posts published in “Day: April 12, 2016”

KANDAHAR: By subduing dissidents and eliminating rivals, Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour is rapidly consolidating his authority over the fractious Afghan insurgent movement as it prepares for “decisive” battles in its upcoming spring offensive. Mansour was declared Taliban leader last summer after the announcement of long-term chief Mullah Omar’s death, but many top commanders refused to pledge their loyalty alleging that he rigged the hastily organised selection process. Despite the infighting, the group saw a…

Maulana Masood Azhar has lived a charmed life — having sustained injuries and survived fighting in Afghanistan and later secured an impossible release from Indian custody. The 47-year old militant has now got help from an unlikely source as China, on technical grounds, blocked a recent Indian bid to list him under the United Nations’ al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee. If the Indian move had succeeded, Masood Azhar’s name would have been added to the UN Security…

A recent NATO assessment on the security situation in Afghanistan reveals that foreign and domestic militants are operating in at least 20 provinces across the nation. NATO’s findings show that 15 Afghan provinces are presently under Taliban threat, while foreign terrorists, who apparently enjoy ties with Daesh, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), al-Qaeda militants and Harakat-e-Islami Uzbekistan militants, are trying to gain footholds in certain areas across the country, a move NATO believes could raise the scale…

At least 17 people kidnapped by Taliban militants have been rescued by police forces in western Herat province of Afghanistan. According to the local security officials, the Taliban militants abducted the civilians from Zindjan district of Herat as they were on their way for weekend break. Provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi confirmed that the civilians were abducted around 2 pm local time but they were rescued during an operation that lasted until 6 pm.…

CAMP SHORAB, Afghanistan — The last time the U.S.-led coalition brought a group of journalists here to Helmand province was in October 2014 to document the withdrawal of American and British troops, on a trip designed to signal that U.S. involvement in the war really was ending. This week, coalition officials brought journalists back, as a way of saying “Never mind” — and to make the case that the United States may want to consider…

WASHINGTON: The United States has asked its citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Pakistan, warning them that violence remains a significant threat in that country. “Pakistan continues to experience significant terrorist violence, including sectarian attacks. Several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups continue to pose a danger to the US citizens throughout the country,” said the latest travel warning the State Depart­ment issued on Thursday afternoon. This further tightens a previous warning issued on August…

IN 1981, Kim Philby, one of the three British operatives of MI6, the UK’s overseas intelligence agency, who formed a ring of double agents spying for the Soviet Union and later defected, gave a talk to members of Stasi, the East German intelligence service. In the talk, Philby advised his German colleagues to “deny everything” if suspected or caught. If confronted with proof, he said, insist that it was a forgery. But admit nothing, and…

HIGH Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has spoken plainly, but sensibly about the state of Pak-India relations. As Mr Basit acknowledged, the dialogue process is effectively suspended, the fallout from the Pathankot attack having derailed plans for a rapid resumption of talks. Perhaps if tragic events had not intervened and prevented Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from travelling to the US, a prime ministerial meeting with Narendra Modi could have been a catalyst to the resumption…

ISLAMABAD – The United States has jumped into save the ‘suspended’ Pakistan-India peace process from collapsing, officials said. The US has been pushing Pakistan and India for talks in the recent years as the two nuclear armed neighbours always carry their complaints to Washington whenever there is a tension. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said that the peace process between India and Pakistan was ‘currently suspended.’ He said that presently no meetings were…