Images that capture what it was like living through 2021.
The rankings were prepared after examining the volume of terrorist and rebel alerts, messaging traffic, videos, photos, incidents and the number of killed and injured in a country over the past 30 days.
India needs to shed its policy of lethargy and inhibitions to engage the Taliban with an intent to maintain its influence in Afghanistan. This would not just put a spanner in Pakistani designs, but also incentivise the Taliban not to be the puppets of GHQ, Rawalpindi, asserts Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd), who served on the Af-Pak desk at the Military Operations Directorate.
These are obviously not 'organic' desertions but brought about under intense military pressure, post the 9/5 arrests. It seemed as if the party was being dismantled the same way it was brought into power!, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
In a significant policy statement on the Taliban which is making big gains in its offensive in Afghanistan, China has asked it to make a "clean break" from all terrorist forces, especially the Al Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group ETIM fighting for the volatile Xinjiang province's independence.
She also hit out at the Centre alleging that while the Government of India was expressing concern for the rights of people in Afghanistan, the same were denied to Kashmiris.
Speaking to ANI, Qatar-based spokesperson of Taliban Suhail Shaheen said, "What do you mean by military role? If they come to Afghanistan militarily and have their presence, I think that will not be good for them, they have seen the fate of military presence in Afghanistan of other countries. So it is an open book for them. And about their help to the Afghan people or national projects, I think that is something which is appreciated."
The man, named as Micah Xavier Johnson, a 25-year-old Army reservist, was responsible for the deadliest attacks on law enforcers in America since 9/11 - shooting 12, killing 5.
"Not only this, but we also helped the citizens of our neighbouring countries to return to their country when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck, irrespective of caste, religion, class, area etc," said minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt.
The Border Security Force has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam and Tripura following intelligence inputs of Islamic terrorists planning to infiltrate the country.
Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who has been remanded to police custody in an abduction case, on Wednesday challenged his detention on charges of kidnapping in a Pakistani court.
While Iraq and Afghanistan top the Global Terrorism Index 2014 as the most terror-affected nations, India has been ranked number six.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the 2020 Country Reports on Terrorism issued on Thursday, said that regionally, terrorist groups continued to operate from Pakistan.
'The Afghans used to say that if there is any person whose name should be taken after Allah, it is Hindustani.'
According to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent, think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive and tangible measure of progress, India ranks 143rd
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
'It was always anticipated that the return of the Taliban would embolden armed Islamists including anti-India groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.'
The days of a thousand cuts are over. These mini wars will remain under the threshold of undeniable war, but will escalate closer to that threshold when their big brother pushes in. Chinese aggression has changed the matrix, the strategies, and surely the objectives too, warns David Devadas.
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
Intelligence agencies have warned of a possible terror threat ahead during the Republic Day celebrations by Pakistan-based terror groups who may use Afghan IDs to sneak into India and carry out attacks.
Avtar Singh Khalsa, a longtime leader of the Sikh community who had planned to run in the parliamentary elections set for October, was killed in the attack.
The identities of the victims have not been disclosed.
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
'Afghanistan cannot be at peace until the Pashtuns regain their pre-eminent role in the country's governance,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermindwill stay in jail, Pakistan's supreme court has ordered.
'The threat of ceding space to China in Afghanistan appears to be one factor propelling our government to get a bit more active now.'
A tribute to an incomparable photojournalist who was slain by the Taliban on Thursday night.
A 25-year-old driver from Northern Ireland has been arrested on suspicion of murder of the 39 people, they said.
Siddiqui's body was taken to the graveyard where it was buried around 10.15 pm. There was a sea of mourners at the burial site to pay their respects.
Reports said the massive blast smashed windows of the buildings nearby and a huge plume of smoke could be seen spiralling over the high-security area.
'Steven MacQueen, who was working for the [Afghan] Ministry of Rural Development and Rehabilitation, was killed last night,' British embassy press officer Colin Ball said.
In a first, authorities in the United States used a cellphone alert to ask millions of New Yorkers to help nab a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent wanted for the weekend bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey.
Group of young Afghans take to the skies of a capital where military helicopters and surveillance balloons are a far more familiar sight.
Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
A controversy has erupted over the portrayal of the Jat king of Bharatpur in the movie.
The number of people killed in acts of terror reached a record high last year, with almost four in five of these deaths occurring in just five countries, new research shows.
Trump suggested a stronger military response is imminent.
A Sikh bar owner in the United States is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey.
"The killing of Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai alias Fauji Baba, a Pakistani national, is a big success for security forces as he was a master in assembling improvised explosive devices for JeM," Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters in Srinagar.
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.
