US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some people in the Pakistani government are aware of the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
Is the Taliban altering its image and operational methods? At least, a 'Layeha' or rulebook issued by the Taliban in Afghanistan in May 2009 -- which is in possession of rediff.com -- indicates to this trend.
The London Conference on Afghanistan held recently has evoked differing reactions in the Indian media. At one extreme it has been welcomed as providing an effective solution to the Afghan problem, even though it may entail the return of Mullah Omar to power in Afghanistan, and at the other extreme it has been criticised not only for paving the way for the return of the Taliban but also for enhancing Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan at India's cost.
Taliban is in turmoil in Afghanistan after its top leadership sacked a senior commander for disobeying orders, British intelligence officers stationed in that country have claimed.
The United States and its allies are offering cash and jobs to Taliban fighters as part of a stepped up negotiation with representatives of Mullah Omar and other insurgents to persuade them to lay down their arms, a news report said on Thursday.
The Pakistan army has admitted that it is in contact with Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Mohammad Omar, and can bring them to the negotiating table with the US if its concerns with India are addressed.
Enraged by Pakistani-origin Canadian writer Tarek Fatah's critical remarks about their country, two Pakistani writers on Friday walked out of the inaugural session of the Indore Literary Festival.
"You can never win the war in Afghanistan," said 'Colonel Imam', who ran a training programme for the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Union's occupation from 1979 to 1989, and then helped to form the Taliban. "I have worked with these people since the 1970s and I tell you they will never be defeated. Anyone who has come here has got stuck. The more you kill, the more they will expand," Imam told The Sunday Times.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has offered an olive branch to Taliban chief Mullah Omar, assuring him security if the latter gave up fighting and came forward for talks.
Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former defence minister in the Taliban's Majlis-e-Shura or executive council, was recently arrested along with two Afghan nationals by intelligence agencies in Lahore, the Daily Times reported.
'A major internal upheaval cannot be ruled out.'
The ISI's new terror matrix comprises three major terrorist groups, at least half-a-dozen big and small front organisations with extremist ideology, spanning three countries.
Pakistan's former interior minister Major General Naseerullah Babar denies a rediff.com column.
'We have set up a special suicide squad that consists of 2,000 Taliban. This squad will make life a hell for the US, says Mullah Omar in an exclusive interview.
'Foreign ministry sources in Delhi discount the official version of the story, in which Modi made an impromptu request to stop over at Lahore, during the course of a birthday telephone call to Nawaz Sharif. In fact, this stopover had been carefully considered in Delhi, as a way to galvanise the peace process further.'
The Taliban said the operation has been named after its deceased leader Mullah Omar.
He was the chief of the hardline political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami.
Two suicide attacks killed at least 35 people and wounded hundreds more in Kabul on Friday, the first major attacks in the Afghan capital since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death.
'The ISI has given a stunning display of its capacity to do with impunity what it likes within Kabul. Incensed over the triumphalism of the hardliners in Kabul, the ISI has hit out; it is a typical ISI reflex action that Indians are familiar with,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A French restaurant popular with foreigners in Kabul was the target of a New Year's Day bombing on Friday, officials said.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
Acknowledging the killing of its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban have announced Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor.
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Dreaded Islamic State militant group has appointed a breakaway Taliban commander as its chief in Khurasan, a historic name used by militants for an area covering Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India.
As Afghanistan gradually realises that there can be no long-term stability in the country as long as Pakistan is involved, the time has come for India to register its solidarity when it would be most appreciated, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
A rare look inside Osama bin Laden's Afghan hideout.
Karzai has steadfastly opposed direct talks between the US and the Taliban, wanting Afghan ownership of the "reconciliation process", as the reintegration of the Taliban into the mainstream is referred to.
The social media was abuzz over an image of an image of Finance Minister P Chidambaram alongside Taliban founder Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef during a conference in Goa.
Jalaluddin Haqqani died a year ago due to prolonged illness and was buried in Afghan province of Khost.
Jalaluddin Haqqani was closely tied to Al Qaeda leaders and had played a key role in supporting the terror group in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Pak PM said he told the UN that it was its resolution on Kashmir and not that of Pakistan therefore it was the body's duty to implement it.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday refused to confirm the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour but said a DNA test will be done to establish the identity of a man killed in a American drone strike last week.
Dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is trying to expand its influence in Pakistan, with pamphlets being distributed in Peshawar and border provinces of Afghanistan, seeking support for jihad.
In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror.
In an alarming development, Al Qaeda has established a new branch to wage jihad in India, revive its caliphate and impose sharia in the Indian sub-continent.
But tactics adopted by them are similar to terrorism!!!
The question really is whether the US can be persuaded to embark on a path of calibrated and stronger sanctions on Pakistan.
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