By Umair Muhammadzai in the Express Tribune, Sept 14, 2017 PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has already lost hundreds of youngsters to the ‘charm’ of the various Taliban groups and factions. Now, it appears the Khorasan franchise of the ultra-extremist group Islamic State (IS) has moved in to tap into this recruitment pool, security officials told Daily Express. Muhammad is 22. He went to the country’s most prestigious boys’ school – Aitchison College in Lahore. He eventually got…
Posts published in “Talibanisation”
by Marvi Sirmed in Daily Times, September 12th 2017 ISLAMABAD: The latest issue of Jaish-e-Mohammad’s (JeM) weekly magazine Al-Qalam lashes out at the extremist Buddhist monk who has been labelled as ‘Buddhist bin Laden’ by global media. “This Buddhist terrorist is called ‘bin Laden of Buddhism’, while he is in fact ‘bin rat’,” says the leading column, which regularly appears in every issue of the Al-Qalam and is reportedly authored by the proscribed organisation’s emir…
By MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIK in The New York Times online, July 27, 2017 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Dr. Faisal Ranjha was examining a patient in the crowded critical-care unit of his hospital in northeastern Pakistan when a federal officer abruptly walked in, seized his cellphone and told him he was under arrest. Officers took him home to scoop up his laptop and the tablet computer on which his 8-year-old son was playing games, then drove the doctor…
PTI report in The Times of India online, May 2,2017 WASHINGTON: Afghanistan’s relationship with India is “unacceptable” to Pakistan, which is using proxies like the Haqqani network and Taliban against its neighbours, eminent experts have told US lawmakers. During a Congressional hearing, Seth Jones, Director of International Security and Defence Policy Centre at the Rand Corporation said that Pakistan has resorted to proxy organisations to further its foreign policy goals. “Pakistan has resorted to proxy…
by Praveen Swami in The Indian Express,April 25, 2017 New Delhi: Top jihad commander Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Muhammad has begun a new drive calling on landowners to gift their ushr, a religious tithe levied on the harvest, to help “martyrs, prisoners detained for Islam, the families of religious warriors, seminaries, offices and needy individuals”, an advertisement issued in Jaish’s latest house-magazine, al-Qalam, has announced. Issued by the Jaish’s charitable wing, the al-Rehmat Trust, based at…
KABUL — When representatives of four nations meet Monday to plan peace talks aimed at ending nearly four decades of fighting in Afghanistan, the most important figure is almost sure to be absent. Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the leader of the Taliban, is likely to remain in hiding when U.S., Afghan, Pakistani and Chinese officials meet in Islamabad to lay the groundwork for future talks. Nonetheless, his shadow will hang over the proceedings. In the six…
At least 43 Taliban militants were killed and 15 others were injured during military operations by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours. The operations were jointly conducted by Afghan national police, Afghan national army and Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives. Interior ministry following a statement said Saturday that the militants were killed or injured in Kandahar, Ghazni, Helmand, Paktia, Paktika and Maidan Wardak provinces of Afghanistan. The statement…
By MUJIB MASHAL and AHMAD SHAKIB in the NY Times, Jan 10, 2016 KABUL, Afghanistan — The urban attacks are suddenly coming at a dizzying pace — five in the first week of January alone. Three were relatively simple even if massive bombings, but in the others, Talibangunmen entered important cities, seized buildings and hostages when they could, then set off their explosives vests when capture seemed imminent, sometimes after hours of fighting. As the…
31 militants have been killed in fresh clashes between Taliban and Daesh groups in eastern Nangarhar province. Spokesperson for the governor of Nangarhar said the clashes took place in Bati Kot and Achin districts. Atuallah Khogyani added that the gun battle that erupted in Doyam Farm area of Bati Kot District on Wednesday morning left 18 members of Daesh group killed and four others wounded. He said those killed include two commanders of the group…
Afghan Taliban expel two dissenting leaders:By Tahir Khan in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2016.
ISLAMABAD: The Afghan Taliban have expelled two senior members of the group’s powerful leadership council, or Rehbari Shura as they call it, for their refusal to accept Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as the successor of Mullah Omar, The Express Tribune has learnt from a top Taliban official. Mullah Abdul Razzaq and Mullah Hasan Rehmani refused to submit to the leadership of Mullah Mansoor who was elected by a Taliban Shura to succeed Mullah Omar after the…
One hundred days after the fall of Kunduz, militants continue to create problems on the outskirts of the city. Kunduz Police Chief Qasim Jangalbagh said on Tuesday that plans are however in place to bring an end to this problem. Jangalbagh said: “Taliban militants are operating on the outskirts of the city but we have plans to stop them and eliminate them.” Meanwhile, tribal elders and residents of the province warned that if government fails…