Posts published in “Day: September 20, 2016”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s trip to India, where he inked a billion-dollar aid deal and lost no opportunity to bash Pakistan should put to rest any idea that his government seeks better ties with Pakistan. The growing cooperation between Afghanistan and India on energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other areas will understandably make Pakistan wary as it sees this as part of an Indian plan to gain further influence in the area and use it to…

Within the escalated violence and bloodshed, peace talks between the Afghan government and Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (HIA) come under discussion. Earlier, the complete withdrawal of foreign forces was included in the preconditions set by Gulbuddin Hakmetyar, which was refused by the Afghan government. However, it is said that he has stepped back from this demand and preparations are underway for a final declaration regarding the peace deal. Peace talks have been a…

Eight years ago, President Obama pledged to wind down the war in Iraq and redouble efforts to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan. “As president, I will make the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority that it should be,” he said during a campaign speech. “This is a war that we have to win.” Lasting peace, Mr. Obama said, would depend on not only defeating the Taliban but helping “Afghans grow their…

PESHAWAR: Abdur Rab Rasul Sayyaf, the septuagenarian former Afghan mujahideen leader and current member of the Afghan parliament, once described his Soviet-jihad era fellow resistance leader, Gulbadin Hekmatyar, as someone “whose boots are in Pakistan, while the rest of him is in his native Afghanistan”. This sums up the life and predicament of the Hizb-i-Islami leader, who has lived nearly 36 years of his 69 years either fighting as a leader of a party that…

The officials in Afghanistan High Peace Council (AHPC) have said the peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar will be signed in coming two to three days. Deputy High Peace Council Chief Abdul Khabir Ochqoon told RFE that the draft peace agreement will be signed in two to three days. This comes as the peace deal between Hezb-e-Islami and the Afghan government was due to be signed on 10th September, ahead of the…

The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group failed to establish the Khurasan province in Afghanistan as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) suppressed the activities of the terror group in the areas under their control. Shah Hussain Murtazvi, deputy presidential spokesperson, during a televised debate with 1TV, said the terror group received major blows during the operations of the Afghan forces as they attempted to establish the…

Abdul Rahman, the Taliban’s commander for Zabul insurgency, was killed in a clash with security forces overnight Friday, security officials claimed in a statement. According to officials the clash started on Friday night in Qalat city, the provincial capital, when the Taliban attacked a police check post. One other Taliban insurgent was wounded, officials added. Ghullam Jelani Farahi, Zabul police security chief, said that Rahman was responsible for the Taliban’s insurgency in the province and…

iThe former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on Taliban group in Afghanistan to be free from the foreign influence, particularly pointing towards the Pakistani intelligence and military. In an interview with Reuters, Karzai appealed to the Taliban “as fellow Afghans to recognise that this is their country” and to break free of the influence of Pakistan, which despite frequent denials, is blamed by Afghanistan for supporting the insurgency. “I would call on the Taliban…

WASHINGTON – Expressing concern over the security situation in Afghanistan, top American Senators on Thursday alleged that neighboring Pakistan continued to play a duplicitous role there. “Pakistan continues to be tremendously duplicitous partner in this. They are working against our interest there (in Afghanistan). They are supporting the Haqqani network,” Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations said during a Congressional hearing in Afghanistan. Afghanistan continued to be important for US national…

Chinese and Russian naval forces on Saturday carried out a joint drill on air defense and anti-submarine in the South China Sea off Southern China’s Guangdong Province. Vessels including a missile destroyer, anti-submarine vessels, missile frigates, ship-based helicopters and conventional submarines, among others, took part in the exercise. The vessels were divided into two fleets and confrontations were staged off the eastern waters of Zhanjiang in Guangdong. A senior officer of the joint drill said…