Darul Uloom Deoband refutes claims of barring women journalists from covering Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit, following controversy over their absence at a press conference in Delhi.
The Taliban have announced they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) employing women in Afghanistan.
Afghan-Taliban commanders Aminullah and Maulvi Bismillah represented supreme militant commander Mullah Omer in three round of talks with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who "partially participated" in the parleys, sources familiar with the process told PTI on Wednesday.
Mullah Omer-led Afghan Taliban have asked the United States and its allies to withdraw all their troops from Afghanistan instead of "troop reductions and gradual withdrawals" that will help the "foreign forces to avoid further humiliation".
'Can a nuclear-armed nation sustain itself indefinitely under overt military rule without catastrophic consequences for itself and the region? History suggests otherwise.'
US President Donald Trump met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House to discuss bilateral ties. This was the first formal bilateral interaction between Trump and Sharif.
At least 19 soldiers and 45 militants have been killed in clashes in Pakistan's restive northwest, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowing to respond with full force against the terrorists. The Pakistan army reports clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Sharif alleges terrorist leaders operate from Afghan soil and calls for repatriation of illegal Afghan residents.
'The operation commanders of the Islamic Emirate (as Taliban movement calls itself) are going to meet shortly to finalise a new war strategy under which foreigners working on their national agendas, particularly Indians, will be targeted,' The News quoted Qari Ziaur Rehman, a Taliban commander, as saying.
Pakistan's Army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, has warned India of a decisive response to any provocation, emphasizing the dangers of war in a nuclear environment. He also accused India of using terrorism to destabilize Pakistan and urged the resolution of core issues.
Taliban's spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced the decree that aims to solve "obscene acts".
Afghanistan's Taliban forces targeted 'several points' in Pakistan on Saturday, Taliban said, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombardments inside the country, as per Al Jazeera.
An earthquake in Afghanistan's east has killed at least 610 people and injured 1,300, a spokesman for the Taliban government said on Monday, PTI has reported quoting AP.
The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported. This is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India. The appointment, announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, is seen as an effort to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad. Kamil, who holds a PhD degree in international law, is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India.
Afghanistan women set to return to cricket field after four-year wait.
Pakistan is in 'constant touch' with the Afghan Taliban for safeguarding the country's security interests, a top military official has said.
India abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution regarding Afghanistan, citing the need for a balanced approach that combines incentives and disincentives, and calling for new initiatives to address the humanitarian crisis.
The local administration denied the rumours about aerial strikes by the Pakistani fighter jets on the compound, saying the explosives used in bomb making exploded, causing the death of 24 people, including 14 militants.
A group of British lawmakers had also reportedly urged the England cricket team to boycott the Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan, a request the ECB denied.
India has said it will consider engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and provide material support to the country in the health sector. The announcement came after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks with the Taliban regime's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai.
Mamundzay was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government and he has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban came to power in August 2021.
Rashid Khan said education held a central place in Islamic teachings and that the faith emphasised the pursuit of knowledge for men and women.
In a scathing indictment of Pakistan's perfidy in the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan, the former Director of the Afghan National Security Directorate, Amrullah Saleh asserted that since 9/11 the Pakistani military has continued to direct, fund and protect the Afghan Taliban.
The entry of other Arab countries in the mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not ruled out, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said, adding that 'doors are not closed' for such developments.
Afghan B-Girl Manizha Talash, a member of the refugee Olympic team at the Paris Games, was disqualified after displaying the words "Free Afghan Women" on her cape.
Trust deficit has widen further between Pakistani secret agencies and the Afghan Taliban after reports surfaced that Taliban leader Ustad Yasir has dies in a Pakistani jail. Tahir Ali reports.
Sections in the US State Department and Pentagon have always felt more comfortable dealing with all powerful Pakistani generals instead of elected civilians, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"If we have to recognise a government, the first thing is that we will need to wait until the government is formed," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
Kimia Yousofi sends message for Afghan women with Paris performance
The Taliban claimed that they have gained control of several public office buildings.
Pakistan may release top Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to boost reconciliation efforts with militants in Afghanistan and to play a larger role in the endgame in the neighbouring country.
The announcement on expansion of CPEC was made following a meeting among Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing, according to a Pakistani readout.
Australia evacuated more than 70 Afghan athletes, family members and officials a year ago as the Taliban swept to power.
While the United States is terming the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghan Taliban No 2, as a big success that could provide 'a wealth of information,' it sounds strange to many that the arrested militant commander was sacked from his post by the Taliban central shura well before from his arrest.
In a tweet, Blinken also assured that America will hold the Taliban to that commitment.
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
The columnist said that Munir was reported as saying on stage at a Brussels gathering that: "God has made me protector of the country. I do not desire any position other than that."
The Afghan Taliban have refuted claims that reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar had written a letter to United States President Barack Obama last year, expressing an interest in holding talks. According to the Afghan Taliban, the claims made by some US officials is merely a ploy to divert people's attention from their "powerful position", which they have attained after fighting an almost ten-year-old "successful war".
Amid deepening concerns in China over the regrouping of the ETIM, blamed by Beijing for all the violent attacks in its volatile Xinjiang province and elsewhere in the country, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Mullah Baradar at Tianjin and sought to prevail on him to build a 'positive image and establish a broad and inclusive political structure that suits Afghanistan's national realities'.
A senior Afghan interim government official on Monday confirmed that strikes in the Afghanistan provinces of Paktika and Khost along the Pakistan border have taken place.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances