Posts published in November 2016

The top Taliban leaders in the group’s leadership council may have abandoned Pakistan and have likely moved to Afghanistan, it has been reported. A spokesman for the group Zabiullah Mujahd confirmed to Associated Press that the leadership council was relocated some months ago. Mujahid did not provide further information regarding the exact date and location within the country where the leadership council was relocated. However, another Taliban official has said the council has been shifted…

The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group plans to deploy at least 200 families in each district by disguising them as refugees, an Afghan lawmaker said Saturday. Zahir Qadir, Deputy House Speaker, Lower House of the Parliament, Wolesi Jirga, said at least 1000 families belonging to the loyalists of the terror group in each district, warning that the control of the situation would become difficult if they managed to…

ISLAMABAD Pakistan and Afghanistan have resumed high-level contacts rekindling hopes for normalisation of their bilateral relationship. On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Afghan President Dr Ashraf Ghani in Ashgabat on the sidelines of the Global Conference on Sustainable Transport and the outgoing army chief, General Raheel Sharif, spoke to Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah on the phone. The prime minister and the army chief contacted the Afghan leaders at a time when Islamabad…

Cox’s Bazar Three brothers — Omar Farukh, Omar Khayer and Omar Sadeque — were still in school uniform which had the logo of their school in Myanmar. The white shirts of the boys, aged between 8 and 10, became quite dirty as they had been wearing them for over a week. On Friday night, they along with their mother, Shamsunnahar, 34, and three younger siblings reached the Nazirartek dry fish processing zone in Cox’s Bazar…

Armed groups continued to attack a town in northern Myanmar’s Shan state as clashes broke out between Myanmar government forces and ethnic armed groups last weekend, the Information Committee of the State Counselor’s Office said Sunday. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fired one mortar with 40mm rocket launcher and two 60mm mortars at Kutkai town from two separate locations Friday night but retreated after the government’s security forces returned…

Maintaining peace and stability along the border between China and Myanmar was the focus of the first China-Myanmar Diplomacy and Defence “2+2” Consultation on Friday. The consultation was held after more than 3,000 people fled from Myanmar and were allowed to cross into China’s Yunnan province to seek safety and shelter after fighting between the Myanmese government forces and ethnic minority rebels. Xinhua said the consultation was co-chaired by officials from the two countries’ foreign…

Only a few years ago, the Chinese currency seemed on an unstoppable path to challenge the US dollar’s dominant position in the international monetary system. After all, the yuan was backed by a rapidly growing economy, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in 2014 had overtaken America to become the world’s largest in terms of purchasing power parity, which enables you to compare how much you can buy for your money in different countries.…

The Afghan security forces arrested the explosives expert of the Taliban group in eastern Nanarhar province of Afghanistan. Nangarhar police said the security forces confiscated a suicide bombing vest and various other types of explosives from the house of the detained militant. According to a statement by Nangarhar police, the detained Taliban expert has been identified as Ghulam Akbar who is originally a resident of Rodat distrit of Nangarhar. The statement further added that Akbar…

A group of three militants disguised among the refugees returning from Peshawar were arrested in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the militants belonged to Taliban group were on their way to Laghman for coordinating attacks. MoI further added that a Laptop computer, a thumb drive, a CD, and over 100 documents were confiscated from the detained militants. The Taliban militants group has not commented regarding the report so far.…

If US President-elect Donald Trump makes good on his promise to back out of free trade deals and surrenders the US’ role as a global free trade leader, China could pick up the slack, but it is too early for it to completely fill the void, economists said. However, China should do more and shoulder more responsibility in promoting free trade rather than struggle for global leadership with the US, they said. Trump declared Tuesday…