WASHINGTON – In a blunt message, the United States has told Pakistani authorities to exercise restraint when it comes to using nuclear weapons, alluding to the ‘rhetoric’ coming out of Islamabad lately. “… about some of the rhetoric from the Pakistani Government and the possibility of using nukes or nuclear weapons, I would just say nuclear-capable states have a very clear responsibility to exercise restraint regarding nuclear weapons and missile capabilities,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson…
Posts published in “Day: October 3, 2016”
The Pakistan Army said on Saturday that escalation and provocation was not in anyone’s interest as it launched a media blitzkrieg to challenge Indian claim of having conducted surgical strikes in Azad Kashmir to neutralise alleged “terrorism launch pads”. “Escalation and war mongering do not suit anyone. We neither escalated nor want to increase tensions; all the war rhetoric has been from the Indian side,” Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Lt Gen Asim…
FORWARD LOCATIONS ALONG LOC: India has yet to come up with evidence to substantiate its claim that its special forces carried out ‘surgical strikes’ against so-called ‘launch pads’ of terrorists in the Pakistani side of Kashmir earlier this week. Indian officials are still tweaking the script of the loosely choreographed drama in a desperate bid to fix plot holes in the storyline. In the meantime, however, Pakistani military took local and foreign journalists on a…
MANDHOLE, Kashmir — The sound of gunfire awoke Malik Rustam and his family around 4 a.m. on Thursday. Within minutes, they headed for cover in a community bunker, as residents here in the Pakistani-controlled portion of Kashmir have been trained to do. Cross-border fire between Pakistani and Indian troops is nothing new, but on Thursday, the Indian military claimed it had carried out “surgical strikes” against four camps, including one near Mandhole, used by militants…
ISLAMABAD: Even as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is busy highlighting the plight of the Kashmiri people at the international level, key government ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman surprised the National Assembly on Thursday when he said that the government was meting out similar treatment to its own people, living in the tribal areas. On the second day of discussion on the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Fata Reforms, the chief of his own faction…
General Raheel Sharif’s retirement has been one of the most talked about affairs in the country lately. Even when the general has said that he does not desire to hold on to the position of chief of army staff after his tenure is over, some elements keep reopening the topic. A few months ago, posters appeared on the roads of Karachi and other cities of Pakistan in which a little-known political party, Move on Pakistan,…
KABUL — It was both a historic moment and a bizarre spectacle. There was the fugitive Afghan militia leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, with a black turban and a beard much whiter than anyone remembered, speaking Thursday via video link from a secret location and then signing a peace agreement as the camera zoomed in on his hands. There was President Ashraf Ghani, dressed in traditional robes and a yellow turban, beaming as he watched the images…
President Ashraf Ghani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hizb-e-Islami party, signed the peace agreement at a ceremony on Thursday. Hekmatyar who joined the ceremony live via a video link congratulated all those involved in reaching the accord and said: “We hope the day has come that foreign countries will not influence our country’s affairs and that peace comes.” “Most important things for Afghans are ending of war and bringing peace to the country” he…
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of Hizb-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, in his speech on Thursday said he has a number of demands which are not mentioned in the peace agreement with Afghan government. Releasing Taliban’s key prisoners and accepting a number of Taliban’s demands without any condition are part of Hekmatyar’s requests from the National Unity Government (NUG). “I ask Mr. President [Ashraf Ghani] to prove his honesty and talk with the Taliban and release their prisoners…
A group of Haqqani network fighters attacked Hizb-e-Islami supporters in Mulakhel area in Wardak province early on Thursday morning, local official said. According to Wardak governor’s spokesman Abdul Rahman Mangal, at least 10 Haqqani network’s fighters were killed and as many were wounded in this clash. He said security forces and Mulakhil resident reacted to the incident sharply after it happened. He added that Haji Yousuf, a commander of Haqqani network was among the dead.…
ISLAMABAD: Despite Indian conspiracies, the size of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been increased to more than $51.5 billion after China and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to lend $8bn to upgrade the main railway line from Karachi to Peshawar, according to a federal minister. Addressing a news briefing upon his return from a week-long visit to China, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said Beijing has agreed to provide Pakistan…