KABUL – Two top Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan were killed in a US drone attack, the nation’s spy agency confirmed Thursday, in a major blow to the group as it seeks to re-establish safe havens in the country. Washington said the strikes on Sunday targeted Farouq al-Qahtani, Al-Qaeda’s emir for northeastern Afghanistan, and his deputy Bilal al-Utabi, calling it the most significant attack against the group’s leadership in several years. Multiple Hellfire missiles “levelled” two…
Posts published in October 2016
The Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee concluded on Thursday. For the first time “the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core” was written into the communiqué. “Xi as the core” in fact has long been in the minds of the Chinese people and among public opinion. Since 2012, China has faced great pressure in the fronts of development, reform and diplomacy. The Chinese economy has come to an…
The writer is a senior analyst of the Geo News, The News and daily Jang. One of the reasons why democracy could not take its roots in Pakistan is the lack of democratic values within the mainstream political parties. It has gradually stopped the growth of political culture which could provide dedicated workers and leaders to steer the parties. Today’s politics revolves around legacies and personality cults rather than making the parties strong enough to…
The Communist Party elevated President Xi Jinping’s political status on Thursday, referring to him as the “core” of its leadership ahead of the party’s five-yearly congress late next year. The higher status gives Xi greater influence over reshuffles of the top ranks at the gathering. A communique released on Thursday after the end of the Central Committee’s four-day sixth plenum in Beijing also said the party’s national congress would be held “in the second half…
The author is an assistant research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The recently concluded eighth BRICS Summit in Goa has again thrust India into the spotlight, giving the world a breath of fresh air amid almost endless populist fights haunting the US and Europe. Since 2014, India’s domestic reforms have come to fruition and its economic growth has been impressive, thanks to efforts by Indian…
India’s seemingly hollow theatrics are taking a dangerous turn, as it detained a Pakistani High Commission staff member for “espionage activities”- a glaring violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention. The Indian foreign secretary summoned Pakistani ambassador to India, Abdul Basit, to inform him that the staffer has been declared persona non grata for espionage activities, Vikas Swarap said in a tweet. As is the protocol for framing an innocent man for espionage, Delhi police insists…
A FRESH set of crises has caused Pakistan-India relations — in the doldrums after last month’s Uri attack — to plunge to even lower depths. On Thursday, India decided to expel a staffer of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for “espionage activities” after the individual had been detained by the Indian law-enforcement authorities. Delhi police claimed the Pakistani diplomat had been in possession of sensitive documents. The Foreign Office has rejected the Indian…
KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday said it would consider suspending trade with India if the situation did not improve soon. FPCCI president Abdul Rauf Alam said that Pakistan had no compulsions of any sort to continue business and trade relations with India under the current hostile conditions. The entire Pakistani business community, he said, was united to take any decision and given the tense situation in the…
SADIQABAD-The Hindu community staged a protest against the police failure to recover a girl abducted about six days ago. Participants of the protest, staged in front of Sadiqabad Press Club, said that 18-year-old girl Ponum Devi, daughter of Krishan and a resident of Chak 147/PK was alone at home when accused Mashooq Shar along with accomplices barged into the house and abducted her at gunpoint. They said that they submitted an application to the Sadiqabad…
ISLAMABAD: The government has accepted a proposal by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to let its operatives take pre-emptive action against individuals and organisations breaching national security under the recently-enacted cyber crime laws. “The ISI wanted a legal cover for action against those allegedly committing online crimes against the state and undermining the national security and we had to agree with the proposal,” disclosed a participant of a crucial meeting held at the Ministry of Interior…
The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad “Gradual squeeze” is the new phrase Pakistani officials are invoking when responding to questions on what they are doing to blunt the Taliban ability to plan and organise operations inside Afghanistan. Taliban leaders are being told to move families and businesses elsewhere and refrain from cross-border operations. Recent arrests in Balochistan of several Taliban leaders, including Ahmadullah Muti alias Mullah Nanai, Suleman Agha…