Posts published in “Day: June 28, 2016”

A prominent Taliban leader was arrested by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in northern Parwan province. According to the security officials, the detained Taliban leader was identified as Abdul Samad and was arrested as he was traveling in Sia Gerd district. The officials further added that Samad was a senior intelligence figure of the group and was also supervising suicide attacks. The Taliban militants group has not commented regarding the report so…

Major clashes have erupted in Kott district of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan after insurgents reportedly linked to Daesh staged coordinated overnight attacks on the Afghan security forces’ checkpoints and on civilians. Frightened by Daesh’s brutality, residents and members of the provincial council have asked government to take urgent action in Kott and secure the release of those captured by Daesh. Meanwhile, Nangarhar police chief has said that fighting between Daesh fighters and the security forces…

Such is the depth of mistrust between Afghanistan and Pakistan that their governments use different names while referring to their long and porous 2,500 kilometres long border. Afghanistan calls it the Durand Line after the British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand who oversaw its demarcation following a treaty between him and the Afghan ruler Amir Abdur Rahman in 1893. For the Afghans, it isn’t really an international border as it was imposed on Amir Abdur Rahman…

One doesn’t remember when was the last time an anti-Afghanistan protest took place in Pakistan. It was, therefore, a rare sight that Pakistanis gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club on June 20 to stage protest against the Afghan government for the unprovoked firing at Pakistani forces at the Torkham border and demand the immediate expulsion of the more than 2.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The protest was organised by various trade organisations, complaining that…

The skirmishes on the Torkham border leading to deaths and injuries on both sides have once again brought the now-hot-now-cold Pak-Afghan relations to the fore. But this was not the first incident that raised diplomatic temperatures in recent months. This was preceded by the capture of Afghan spies believed to have links with the Afghan intelligence agency, compelling the Balochistan home minister to use very harsh language asking all Afghan refugees “to go back home”.…

The writer is bureau chief with Mashaal Radio/Radio Free Europe for Pakistan. The recent clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan security forces on the Torkham border was the most serious such clash for the past 15 years including the one at Yaquby Kandao (Mohmand Agency) in 2003 and a skirmish over fencing at the Angoor Ada check-post in 2007. Security officials at Torkham and the higher authorities in Islamabad and Kabul may have been aware of…

General Raheel Sharif has said Pakistan is opposed to using proxies against other countries and will also not allow any other country to use proxies against Pakistan. Does this really mean an end to the dogma of strategic depth? Is that was the COAS is implying? Or is it for the Iranian, Indian and Afghani ears? Our relationship with our neighbouring countries has seen ups and down, mostly downs, and allegations have been thrown back…

PESHAWAR: Assuring protection to worship places of minorities located in Kashmir Colony Peshawar, Auqaf Department Deputy Administrator Asif Khan has said that no plaza or building construction would be allowed on the Hindu temples or Sikh gurdwaras. Addressing a news conference at the press club on Saturday, he said that the department had sealed three Hindu temples and a Sikh gurdwara in the concerned colony, as some elements wanted to politicise the issue. Asif said…

PESHAWAR: Members of the All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement on Saturday demanded that the government hand over all places of worship and attached properties to the members of Hindu community and ensure their protection. The demand was made during a demonstration organised by the APHRM at the Kashmiri Camp No987 here. The participants held banners and placards inscribed with call for the immediate end to the occupation of their properties. Speaking on the occasion, APHRM…

A growing number of officials have been implicated in the misuse or embezzlement of poverty relief funds following a sweeping crackdown on official malfeasance across China. Prosecutors investigated 658 officials responsible for poverty alleviation in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 53.7 percent, Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) spokesperson Wang Songmiao said at a news conference on Thursday. China launched a five-year campaign to crack down on corruption by officials engaged…